J 


Columbia  (BnitJer^ttp 

THE  LIBRARIES 


a^^i^-e^. 


MONKS,  POPES, 


AND 


Their  Political  Intrigues, 


nr 


JOHN    ALBERCtER. 


*^  Like  latnbs  have  zue  crept  into  pcnuer ;  like  wolves  have  lue 
used  it ;  like  dogs  have  lue  been  driven  otit ;  like  eagles  shall  lue 
rene^u  our  youths — St.  Francis  Borgia. 

^^ Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty ^ — Washixgtox. 


\2r  e:N^E  '\^xi!L;\jj^i^, 


IJALTIMOKK: 
1871. 


73G 


^^^-i'liii 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  j-enr  1871,  hy 

JOnX  ALBEKGER, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  "Washington. 


PB  E FA  CE, 


The  object  of  the  present  work  is  to  show  tlie  political 
nature  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  its  treasonable 
designs  with  regard  to  the  American  republic. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  pages  the  author  has 
endeavored  to  show  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  intrin- 
sically a  gigantic  conspiracy  against  the  liberties  of  the 
world;  ingenious  in  its  construction,  opulent  in  its  re- 
sources, extensive  in  its  ramifications,  and  formidable  in 
its  character.  In  proof  of  this  assertion  he  submits  to 
the  consideration  of  the  reader  a  mass  of  irrefragable 
authority,  and  indisputable  historical  incidents.  The 
authorities  on  which  he  chiefly  relies  are  papal  bulls, 
briefs,  and  encyclical  letters;  the  canons  of  Catholic 
councils ;  Catholic  periodicals  under  the  supervision  of 
priests,  such  as  the  Civita  CattoUca,  Bro7iso7is  Eevicw, 
the  Boston  Fllot,  the  Tablet,  the  Bamhlcr,  the  Shepherd 
of  the  Valley,  the  Faris  Univcrs;  also  the  works  of 
Dens,  the  author  of  the  Catholic  system  of  Divinity; 
of  Llorente,  the  secretary  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition; 
of  Bellarmine,  the  celebrated  Catholic  controversialist; 
0^  Ferraris,   the  author   of  the    Catholic  Ecclesiastical 


PKEFACE. 

Dictionary  ;  of  Fra  Paola,  tlie  Catholic  ecclesiastical 
historian ;  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  entitled  hy  the 
church  "  the  Angelic  Doctor,"  "  the  Angel  of  the  School," 
*'  the  Fifth  Doctor;"  of  St.  Bernard,  called  "  the  Honeyed 
Teacher"  and  his  works  "  Streams  from  Faradise ;"  of 
Labbeus,  of  St.  Liquori,  of  Moscovius,  and  of  a  host  of 
other  oracles  of  Catholicism. 

By  means  of  these  authorities  the  veil  of  piety  which 
conceals  and  decorates  the  papal  church  is  partly  drawn 
aside,  and  her  monarchial  character,  political  organiza- 
tion, despotic  nature,  ambitious  designs  and  treasonable 
principles,  are  distinctly  presented  to  view. 

The  author  pretends  to  no  originality.  The  diction 
and  logic  are,  of  course  his  own,  but  the  facts  and  prin- 
ciples upon  which  he  bases  his  charges  are  the  avowals 
of  the  church,  the  records  of  history,  and  the  official 
affirmations  of  civilized  nations. 

The  Infidels,  as  faithful  sentinels  on  the  watch  tower 
of  liberty,  have  often  uttered  the  cry  of  warning ;  the 
Protestant  pulpit  has  at  intervals  startled  from  its 
drowsy  slumbers,  and  echoed  the  same  alarm ;  but  nei- 
ther the  one  nor  the  other  has  been  able  to  arouse  the 
people  from  their  profound  slumber.  Gavazzi  has  lec- 
tured, Hogan,  Colton,  Hopkins  have  written,  but  so 
profound  and  death-like  is  the  torpidity  which  holds 
the  senses  of  Americans  in  indifference,  that  the  warn- 
ings of  writers  and  speakers  have  died  away  with  the 


PREPACE. 

tones  in  which  they  were  uttered.  But  Americans  must 
awake — thej  will  awake — if  not  soon  enough  to  avert 
the  impending  doom  overhanging  their  country  and 
their  posterity,  yet  soon  enough  1  alas,  too  soon !  to 
weep  in  despair  over  their  present  apathy  and  indijSfer- 
ence,  amid  the  ruins  of  their  republic, 

JOHN  ALBERGER, 

Baltimoke,  Md.^  Julj^  4th,  1871, 


CO  2^''  TEN  TS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Catholicism  a  Political  Organization.  ,  .       6 

CHAPTER    II. 

Political  Machinery  of  the  Papal  Power,    ,  .     15 

CHAPTER    III. 

Monastic  Vow  of  Perpetual  Solitude,  •  .     22 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Monastic  Vow  of  Perpetual  Silence,  .  .     32 

CHAPTER   V. 

Vow  of  Silent  Contemplation.     Part  First,  .     40 

"      Second,         .     46 
"      Third,  .     35 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Monastic  Vow  of  Poverty,  .  .  .85 

CHAPTER   VII. 

Monastic  Vow  of  Celibacy,  .  .  .  100 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

Monastic  Vow  of  Unconditional  Obedience,  .  129 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Pagan  Origin  of  the  Monastic  Orders,         .  .  136 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER   X. 

Popes  —  tlielr  Pretensions,   Elections,   Character 

and  Administrations,        .  .  .  .   153 

CHAPTER   XI. 

The  Papal  Monarchy — Crown,  Banner,  Cabinet, 
Court,  Decrees,  Jurisdiction,  Coinage,  Army 
and  Navy,  Eevenues,  Oaths  and  Spies,    .  .   181 

The  Papal  Monarchy.  Section  Two.  The  Pope's 
Direct  Authority  ;  his  Opposition  to  Marriage  ; 
to  Slavery  ;  his  Claim  to  Temporal  Power  on 
the  Forged  Decretal  Letter  of  Constantino  ;  on 
the  Fictitious  Gift  of  Pepin  ;  on  the  Pretended 
Donation  of  Charlemagne  ;  on  the  Disputed 
Bequest  of  Matilda,  Duchess  of  Tuscany ;  the 
Title  of  Pope  a  Usurpation  ;  the  Papal  Artful 
Policy;  the  State  of  Italy  under  the  Papal 
Government,         .....  207 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Papal  Political  Intrigues  in  England  —  Papal 
Machinery ;  Intrigues  under  the  Keigns  of 
Henry  II. ;  of  King  John  ;  of  Henry  VII. ;  of 
Charles  I. ;  of  Charles  II. ;  of  James  II. ;  of 
William  and  Mary,  .  .  .  .226 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Papal  Political  Intrigues  in  France — During  the 
Keigns  of  Clovis  ;  of  Childeric  III. ;  of  Pepin  ; 
of  Charlemagne;  of  Hugh  Capet;  of  Philip 
IV.;  of  Louis  XII.;  of  Francis  I. ;  of  Francis 
II. ;  of  Charles  IX. ;  of  Henry  IV. ;  of  Louis 
XIII. ;  of  Louis  XIV.,     .  .  .  .256 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


Papal  Political  Intrigues  in  Germany — Under  the 
Peigns  of  Otho  I.;  of  Henry  IV.;  of  Henry 
V. ;  of  Frederic  I. ;  of  Frederic  II. ;  of  Conrad 
IV.;  of  Albert  I.;  of  Henry  VII. ;  of  Louis  of 
Bavaria;  of  Charles  IV.;  of  Sigismund ;  of 
Charles  V. ;  of  Ferdinand  II.;  Papal  Intrigues 
in  Austria ;  in  Prussia ;  and  in  the  Nether- 
lands,         289 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Papal  Political  Intrigues  in  Portugal  and  Spain — 
Under  the  Peigns  of  Alphonso  I. ;  Sancho  II. ; 
Dionysus ;  John  II. ;  Emanuel ;  John  III. ; 
Sebastian  ;  Philip  II. ;  Joseph  I. ;  Maria  Fran- 
cesca  Isabella ;  John  VI. ;  Pedro  VL ;  and 
Dona  Maria,         -  ...  323 

In  Spain  —  Under  the  Peigns  of  Recared  L; 
Charles  V.;  Philip  II.:  Philip  IIP;  Charles 
II.;  Charles  III.;  Charles  IV.;  and  Ferdi- 
nand VII,  .  .  .  .  .336 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Papal  Intrigues  Respecting  the  United  States  ; 
Catholic  Persecution  ;  Protestant  Persecution  ; 
Catholics  in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  in  the 
late  Rebellion  ;  Catholic  Enmity  to  Civil  and 
Religious  Liberty  ;  an  Alliance  formed  for  the 
Subversion  of  the  American  Republic ;  the 
Duke  of  Richmond's  Letter;  Catholic  Immi- 
gration ;  Progress  of  Catholicism ;  the  Repub- 
lic in  Imminent  Danger  ;  Union  the  Only  Means 
of  Salvation;  Conclusion,  ,  ,  .  348 


CHAPTER  I. 

Catholicison  a  Political  Organization, 

GuizoT,  speaking  of  the  Christian  Church,  says:  "I  say 
the  Christian  Church,  and  not  Christianity,  between 
which  a  broad  distinction  is  to  be  made."  (Gen.  Hist. 
Civilization,  Lecture  11,  p.  48.)  The  Catholic  Church 
has  little  except  the  name  of  Christianity,  w^hile  it  is 
secretly  a  political  organization  to  establish  *'  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Pope  over  all  persons  and  things,"  which, 
according  to  Bellarmine's  view,  "is  the  main  substance 
of  Christianity." 

If  w^e  have  recourse  to  the  lexicon  to  ascertain  the 
signification  of  the  term  religion,  we  may  arrive  at  a 
definite  conclusion  respecting  its  classical  use  :  but  if  we 
are  guided  in  our  inquiry  by  the  popular  acceptation, 
we  will  discover  that  its  definitions  are  as  numerous  as  the 
inhabitants  of  the  globe,  and  as  various  as  their  fea- 
tures. We  have  Natural  religion.  Pagan  religion,  Hin- 
doo religion,  Jewish  religion,  Christian  religion,  and 
Mahometan  religion.  Among  Christian  sects  some  be- 
lieve religion  to  consist  in  individual  feeling,  some  in 
baptism,  some  in  reverence  for  the  clergy,  some  in 
problematical  creeds  and  dogmas,  some  in  observances 
of  church  ordinations,  some  in  rhapsodies,  and  some  in  a 
species  of  sentimentalism. 

The  Boston  Pilot  says:    "There  can  be  no  religion 

without  an  Inquisition  ;"  but  Thomas  Paine,  with  nobler 

philosophy,  thinks    "religious   duties  consist  in  doing 

justice,  loving  mercy,  and  endeavoring  to  make  our  fel- 

1* 


6  CATHOLICISM    A 

low  creatures  happy."  The  diversity  and  discordance 
which  have  arisen  respecting  the  import  of  this  term, 
originate  from  its  compound  nature  adapting  it  to  desig- 
nate one  idea,  or  a  variety  of  ideas.  But  while  we  rarely 
encounter  two  persons  exactly  concurring  in  an  opinion 
of  what  is  religion,  we  find  all  readily  admitting  that  it 
essentially  consists  in  just  principles  and  correct  conduct. 
Principles  are  the  fountains  of  thought  and  feeling;  to 
be  just,  they  must  be  formed  in  accordance  with  truth 
and  reason.  Conduct  to  be  correct  must  be  in  harmony 
with  the  rights  of  others,  and  the  principles  and  designs 
of  the  human  organism.  According  to  this  definition, 
religion  may  exist  with  or  without  ceremonial  observ- 
ances. All  forms  are  merely  external  appendages,  un- 
essential to  the  nature  of  religion,  and  as  distinct  from 
it  as  the  casket  is  from  the  gem,  or  the  body  from  the 
vital  principle.  If  this  definition  should  be  construed 
into  a  definition  of  mere  morality,  it  cannot  invalidate 
any  objection  founded  on  it  to  Catholicism,  as  every 
such  objection  will  then  become  demonstrative  proof 
that  the  Catholic  Church  is  not  only  destitute  of  reli- 
gion, but  even  of  morality. 

The  signification  of  a  corporate  organization  is  well 
understood,  but  how  shall  we  ascertain  its  principles 
and  designs  ?  Not  from  the  tenor  of  its  professions  ;  but 
from  the  nature  of  its  constitution,  the  tendency  of  its 
measures,  the  sanctions  which  it  has  given,  the  recogni- 
tions which  it  has  made  in  its  official  capacity ;  and 
above  all,  from  the  avowals  it  has  uttered,  under  such 
a  prosperous  condition  of  affairs  as  made  disguise  unne- 
cessary. In  courting  popular  favor,  an  organization 
concocted  to   subvert   the   rights   and  interests  of  the 


POLITICAL    OKGANIZATIOX.  7 

people,  would,  from,  motives  of  policy,  be  prompted  to 
conceal  its  nature  and  design ;  but  when  wealth  and 
power  had  sufficiently  fortified  its  security  to  enable  it 
to  scorn  and  defy  public  opinion,  it  would  then  as 
naturally  unfold  its  latent  principles,  as  a  summer's 
sun  would  hatch  an  innocently  loooking  cluster  of  eggs 
into  a  nest  of  poisonous  asps. 

If  among  the  members  of  an  organization,  which  pro- 
fesses to  be  of  an  exclusively  religious  character,  men 
should  be  found  who  are  unquestionably  religious  or 
moral,  this  fact  would  no  more  prove  it  to  be  a  religious 
or  moral  institution,  than  would  the  membership  of  the 
same  persons  to  a  railroad  or  municipal  corporation 
prove  such  a  corporation  to  be  a  religious  and  not  a  secu- 
lar organization.  But  if  at  periods  in  its  history,  its  most 
irreproachable  and  credible  members  should  denounce  it 
as  a  political  power,  and  labor  to  transform  it  into  a 
purely  religious  institution,  and  for  such  a /' damna- 
ble heresy"  were  burnt  alive,  and  their  ashes  thrown 
into  a  river  to  prevent  the  people  from  worshipping 
them,  what  would  be  the  legitimate  inference  from  such 
facts  ?  Would  it  not  be  that  it  claimed  to  be  a  political 
organization  ?  that  it  was  high  treason  in  its  estimation  to 
question  its  right  to  this  character  ?  and  that  to  utter 
such  a  question  in  its  domains  was  to  provoke  its 
heaviest  penalty?  Did  not  all  these  facts  occur  in 
Ptome  respecting  Arnold  of  Brecia  ?  And  in  Catholic 
history  have  not  similar  facts,  from  his  time  down  to 
the  Reformation,  been  incarnadined  in  human  blood, 
too  deeply  for  audacity  to  deny  or  time  to  obliterate  ? 

But  what  is  a  religious  organization  ?  If  religion  is 
moral  goodness,  a  religious  organization  must  be  an  em- 


CATHOLICISM   A 


bodiment  of  its  principles,  a  practical  exemplification 
of  its  maxims,  and  a  scheme  in  measures  and  policy- 
adapted  to  extend  the  observance  of  its  obligations. 
Such  an  organization  must  be  consistent  with  itself,  and 
in  harmony  with  the  natural  j)rinciples  of  man.  In 
integrity  it  must  be  invulnerable  ;  in  adherence  to  right 
inflexible;  in  hostility  to  wrong,  uncompromising.  It 
must  be  the  champion  of  the  rights  of  human  nature ; 
the  friend  of  freedom,  equality  and  liberality  ;  the  enemy 
of  bigotry,  intolerance,  and  despotism.  Its  claims  must 
be  commended  by  truth;  its  measures  sanctioned  by 
reason  and  conscience ;  its  triumphs  won  by  argument 
and  persuasion.  Its  hands  must  be  unstained  with 
blood.  It  must  never  perpetrate  a  fraud,  nor  descend 
to  intrigue,  nor  dissemble,  nor  cherish  malice,  nor  slan- 
der an  ojDponent,  nor  traffic  for  self-aggrandizement,  nor 
prostitute  its  principles  to  political  objects,  nor  accom- 
modate itself  to  the  vices  of  any  age  or  country.  Amid 
general  corruption  it  must  always  be  pure,  amid  bigotry 
it  must  always  be  tolerant,  amid  oppression  it  must 
always  advocate  the  cause  of  justice,  and  amid  ignorance 
the  cause  of  education. 

Such  are  some  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  a 
religious  or  moral  organization.  Any  departure  from 
them  in  an  institution,  proves  its  secularism.  No  church 
in  which  they  form  not  a  distinguishing  feature,  has  any 
claims  to  be  a  religious  or  moral  corporation. 

Now  w^hen  we  see  an  institution,  professing  to  be  of 
an  exclusively  religious  character,  organizing  its  depart- 
ments upon  a  financial  basis;  enjoining  on  its  members 
the  vow  of  unconditional  obedience,  in  order  to  subject 
them  to  its  despotic  domination;  the  vow  of  absolute 


POLITICAL    ORGANIZATION.  » 

poverty,  in  order  to  enable  them  more  successfully  to 
administer  to  the  increase  of  its  wealth;  the  vow  of 
celibacy,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  having  legiti- 
mate heirs,  to  divert  the  ecclesiastical  possessions  from  the 
church  ;  when  we  see  it  establishing  schools  to  select  and 
mould  to  its  designs  the  most  promising  among  youth, 
instituting  universities  to  enrich  itself  by  the  sale  of 
their  honors,  absolving  sins  for  money,  selling  indul- 
gences for  the  commission  of  premeditated  crime,  erect- 
ing missionary  stations  among  Pagans  for  the  purpose  of 
traffic  and  emolument,  manufacturing  evidence,  com- 
mitting forgeries,  and  corrupting  and  interpolating  the 
text  of  ancient  authors,  denouncing  reason,  crushing 
liberty,  circumscribing  knowledge,  anathematizing  those 
who  disbelieve  in  its  arbitrary  dogmas,  torturing 
those  who  question  its  supreme  authority,  burning 
those  who  oppose  its  pretensions ;  having  a  national  cab- 
inet, ministerial  offices,  accredited  ambassadors,  main- 
taining a  standing  army,  a  naval  force,  religious  military 
orders  to  extend  and  enlarge  its  domains,  carrying  a 
national  banner,  wearing  a  political  crown,  declaring 
war,  concluding  national  covenants,  coining  money, 
and  exercising  all  the  rights  of  an  acknowledged  inde- 
pendent monarchy,  it  is  more  than  credulity  can  admit, 
to  concede  that  such  an  organization  is  not  a  corrupt, 
cruel,  despotic,  and  political  institution.  That  such  is 
the  constitution  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  a  fact,  attested 
by  the  existing  Papal  Government,  and  by  the  spirit  and 
acts  of  its  past  history ;  and  that  it  is  now  what  in  the 
past  it  has  been,  is  established  by  the  unanimous  testi- 
mony of  its  acknowledged  expounders. 

Simplicity  has  been  amused  by  modern  Catholic  apol- 


10  CATHOLICISM   A 

ogists,  wJio  assert  that  the  Papal  monarch  has  resigned 
his  former  pretensions  to  universal  temporal  sovereignty, 
and  that  he  now  merley  maintains  his  right  to  supreme 
spiritual  authority.  But  this  subterfuge  can  mislead  only 
a  superficial,  ignorant  mind.  As  spiritual  sovereignty  is 
absolute  dominion  over  reason  and  conscience,  it  una- 
voidably involves  temporal  sovereignty ;  nay,  temporal 
sovereignty  of  the  most  despotic  and  unlimited  authori- 
ty. Eeason  and  conscience  lay  at  the  foundation  of  all 
political  power  ;  and  if  Catholicism  is  adapted  to  govern 
them,  it  transcends  in  despotism  the  most  ingeniously 
contrived  monarchy  that  tyranny  has  ever  elaborated, 
or  by  which  the  faculties  of  man  have  ever  been  en- 
thralled. Spain,  Russia,  or  any  other  government  is 
less  tyrannical  in  its  constitution  than  is  the  Catholic 
Church.  He  who  would  establish  the  contrary  opinion, 
must  first  obliterate  the  Papal  bulls,  the  decrees  of  the 
Councils,  and  the  authorities  of  the  Catholic  Church; 
he  must  go  to  Pome  and  convert  the  present  Pope  and 
his  college  of  Cardinals  ;  nay,  he  must  attend  the  coming 
CEcumenical  Council  and  induce  it  to  annul  the  canons 
of  all  the  previous  Councils,  and  to  declare  that  all  the 
preceding  Popes  were  "  damnable  heretics,"  and  have 
them  accordingly  excommunicated.  These  preliminary 
steps  must  be  taken  before  he  can  avoid  absurdity  or 
the  imputation  of  wilful  prevarication. 

But  the  Papal  See  has  never  resigned  its  preposterous 
claim  to  universal  temporal  sovereignty.  The  bulls  and 
canons  asserting  this  pretension  have  never  been  an- 
nulled. They  still  form  the  canon  law  of  the  Church. 
No  ofiicial  declaration  has  announced  an  abrogation  of 
them.     The  Pope's  reiterated  and  blasphemous  claim  to 


POLITICAL    0RGANIZATI0I7.  11 

infallibility  precludes  the  possibility  of  such  a  sensible 
act.  Infallibility  is  inconsistent  witli  change  of  prin- 
ciple or  error  of  conduct,  and  when  the  Church  of  Rome 
arrogates  such  a  divine  attribute,  she  avers  that  her  past 
history  indicates  her  present  character  and  future  in- 
tentions. In  this  opinion  all  her  authorities  concur. 
Bishop  Kendrick  says :  "  All  doctrine  of  definitions 
already  made  by  general  Councils  and  former  Pontiffs 
are  tnarlcs  which  no  mem  can  remove.'"'  (Primacy,  p. 
356).  Brownson  says:  "What  the  Church  has  done, 
what  she  has  expressly  or  tacitly  approved  in  the  past, 
is  exactly  what  she  will  do,  expressly  or  tacitly  approve, 
in  the  future,  if  the  same  circumstances  occur."  (Re- 
view, Jan.  1854).  Again  :  "  The  Catholic  dogma,  in 
regard  to  every  subject  whatever,  has  always  been  the 
same  from  the  beginning,  remains  always  unchangeably 
the  same,  and  will  always  continue  in  every  part  of  the 
world  immutable."  (Review,  Jan.,  1850).  Again: 
"  Catholicity,  as  long  as  it  continues  Catholicity,  cannot 
be  carried  to  excess.  It  will  be  all  or  nothing."  (Re- 
view, Jan.,  1854).  The  editors  of  the  Civilita  Cattolica, 
the  Pope's  organ  at  Rome,  say  :  "  From  the  darkness  of 
the  catacombs  she  ( the  Catholic  Church  )  dictated  laws 
to  the  subjects  of  Emperors,  abrogating  decrees,  whether 
plebeian,  senatorial  or  imperial,  when  in  conflict  with 
Catholic  ordinances.  To-day,  as  in  all  time,  the  Church 
commands  the  spiritual  part  of  man  ;  and,  in  ruling 
over  the  spirit,  she  rules  the  body,  rules  over  riches, 
over  science,  over  affections,  over  interests,  over  associ- 
ations —  rules,  in  fine,  over  monarchs  and  their  minis- 
ters." 

The  Dublin  Tablet,  Feb.  24,  1865,  the  accredited  organ 


12  CATHOLICISM   A 

of  Komanism  in  the  British,  realm,  says :  "  The  Pope  is 
at  this  moment  interfering  in  Piedmont,  defending  one 
class  of  citizens  against  the  government;  and  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  (of  the  United  States),  a 
Christian  (Mr.  Chandler,  in  his  speech,  Jan.,  1865), 
denies  the  right !  Governments  may  and  do  prohibit 
good  works,  and  the  Pope  interferes.  They  also  com- 
mit evil,  and  the  Pope  interferes ;  and  good  Christians 
(Catholics)  ^r^o'  the  Topes  authority  to  that  of  the 
State.  The  godless  (  non-Catholic  )  colleges  of  Ireland, 
the  troubles  of  Piedmont,  all  bear  witness  against  the 
unchristian  opinion."  The  Paris  Univers  says  :  "A 
heretic  examined  and  convicted  by  the  Church,  used  to 
be  delivered  over  to  the  secular  authority  to  be  punished 
with  death.  Nothing  has  appeared  to  us  more  neces- 
sary. More  than  100,000  persons  perished  in  conse- 
quence of  the  heresy  of  WicklifFe,  and  a  still  greater 
number  for  that  of  John  Huss;  and  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  count  the  bloodshed  caused  by  Luther,  and  it 
is  not  yet  over!'  De  Pratt,  formerly  an  Abbe  of  the 
Pope,  says:  "The  Pope  is  chief  of  150,000,000  of  fol- 
lowers. Catholicism  cannot  have  less  than  500,000 
ministers.  The  Pope  Commands  more  subjects  than 
any  sovereign — more  than  many  sovereigns  together. 
These  have  subjects  only  on  their  own  territory,  the 
Pope  commands  subjects  on  the  territory  of  all  sovereigns' 
(Flag  of  the  Union.)  But  the  testimony  is  voluminous, 
and  I  forbear  further  cj^uotations  on  this  point. 

To  understand,  then,  the  past  history  of  the  Catholic 

Church,  is  of  paramount  importance  to  every  freeman. 

What  is  it  1     It  is  the  development  of  her  nature.     It 

is  the  unfolding  of  her  treason  to  the  world.     It  is  un- 

2 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION.  13 

covering  the  cruelty  and  despotism  concealed  under  her 
religious  profession.     It  is  the  revelation  of  her  animos- 
ity to  the  rights  of  men,  to  the  progress  of  society,  and 
to  the  exercise  of  reason  and  conscience.     It  shows  her 
to  be  a  secret  political  organization,  skilfully  constructed 
for  the  acquisition  of  supreme  political  power,  and  hypo- 
critically disguised  under  the  semblance  of  religion.    If 
in  her  infancy  she  did  not  always  avow  her  ambitious 
designs,  she  always  secretly  cherished  them ;  and,  if  in 
her  adversity  she  has  moderated  her  tone,  she  has  not 
her  natural  thirst  for  secular  power.     As  she  grew  in 
strength,  she   grew   in  arrogance  and  despotism;  and 
when,  by  a  system  of  artful  intrigues  and  bold  usurpa- 
tions, she  had  created  a  colossal  power  that  overawed 
the  united  monarchies  of  Christendom,  she  unsheathed 
the  double  sword,  the  symbol  of  ecclesiastical  and  polit- 
ical power,  and  asserted  her  right,  as  Vicar  of  Christ, 
to  rule  with  or  in  preference  to  Princes,  invaded  the 
rights   and  liberties  of  independent  nations,   crowned 
and   uncrowned   monarchs,   destroyed   freedom  every- 
where, anathematized,  shackled,  tortured  and  burnt  all 
who  opposed  her  monarchical  pretensions.     Her  trium- 
.  phal  processions  have  been  the  most  magnificent  when 
her  hands  were  the  bloodiest,  and  her  Te  Deurti  was 
chaunted  with  the  most  fervor  when  the  smoke  of  her 
stakes  ascended  in  the  thickest  volumes,  and  the  gore 
shed  by  the  double  sword  streamed  in  the  broadest  and 
deepest  currents. 

When  Time,  the  avenger,  hurled  her  from  her  des- 
potic throne,  she  supplicated,  because  she  coukl  not 
command,  and  moderated  her  pretensions,  because  she 
dare  not  assert  them.     But  if  she  presumes  not  now  to 


14  CATHOLICISM  A    POLITICAL    OKGANIZATION. 

tear  the  crown  from  the  head  of  the  mighty,  who  would 
annihilate  her  for  her  audacious  attempt;  if  she  does 
not  now  absolve  subjects  from  allegiance  to  their  gov- 
ernments, whose  artillery,  to  avenge  the  insult  would 
be  marshalled  against  her ;  if  she  does  not  now  attempt 
to  burn  at  the  stake  those  w-ho  reject  her  absurdities, 
and  who  w^ould  burn  her  for  an  attempt — the  reason  of 
the  extraordinary  change  in  her  infallible  holiness  is 
palpable.  It  is  not  because  she  has  discarded  the  doc- 
trines consecrated  by  so  many  bulls,  battles  and  trea- 
ties, but  because  she  cannot  carry  them  out  without 
peril  to  her  existence.  But  let  Brownson,  whom  Pope 
Pius  IX.,  in  a  letter  dated  April  29,  1854,  blessed  with 
an  apostolic  benediction  for  services  rendered,  solve  this 
point.  He  says:  "  The  Church,  who  possesses  an  ad- 
mirable gift  of  discretion,  has  prudently  judged  that  she 
would  not  declare  all  things  explicitly  from  the  begin- 
ning, but  at  a  given  time,  and  in  suitable  circumstances, 
would  bring  into  light  something  which  was  hitherto  in 
concealment,  and  covered  with  a  certain  obscurity.  (Re- 
view, January,  1854), 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Political  Machinery  of  the  Papal  Power, 

That  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  is  artfully  constituted 
to  subjugate  all  secular  and  ecclesiastical  power  under 
its  authority,  and  that  its  object  is  not  to  advance  the 
interests  of  moral  goodness,  but  to  acquire  temporal 
dominion,  must  be  admitted  by  every  one  that  fully 
comprehends  the  principles  upon  which  its  religious 
Orders  are  organized.  These  Orders  were  founded  by 
Catholic  saints  and  Bishops.  They  have  been  con- 
firmed by  Popes  and  Councils.  And  though  they  have 
been  suppressed,  on  account  of  their  corrupt  tendency 
and  political  intrigues,  in  kingdom  after  kingdom,  yet 
in  pontifical  bulls  they  have  been  defended  as  being  the 
most  useful  and  pious  class  of  the  Catholic  community. 
They  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  having  been  author- 
atively  acknowledged  to  be  constituted  in  harmony  with 
the  principles  and  designs  of  the  Catholic  Church.  In 
fact  they  form  the  body  of  its  organization,  as  the  Pope 
does  its  head,  and  the  Councils  do  its  members. 

In  investigating  the  intrinsic  nature  of  these  orders, 
we  are  naturally  led  back  to  that  period  of  their  history 
which  allowed  them  an  unembarrassed  development. 
As  they  are  sanctioned  by  a  church  which  claims  the 
attribute  of  infallibility,  whatever  changes  the  advance 
of  civilization  has  effected  in  them,  must  be  regarded 
as  a  mere  prudent  accommodation  to  existing  circum- 
stances, to  be  tolerated  no  longer  than  they  are  impera- 
tive.    If  in  1900  the  Catholic  Church  gain  the  suprem- 


16  '  POLITICAL    MACHINERY 

acy  in  the  United  States  which  she  hopes  to  gain,  she 
will  restore  the  despotism  and  superstition  which  char- 
acterized her  domination  during  the  dark  ages.  Pope 
Gregory  XYI.  in  his  Encyclical  Epistle  of  1832,  says : 
"  Ever  bearing  in  mind,  the  universal  church  suffers 
from  every  novelty,  as  well  as  the  admonition  of  Pope 
St.  Agatho,  that  from  Avhat  has  been  regularly  defined 
nothing  can  be  taken  away — no  innovation  introduced 
there,  no  addition  made,  but  that  it  must  be  preserved 
untouched  as  to  words  and  meaning." 

The  religious  Orders  consist  of  anchorites,  monks, 
nuns  and  knights.  The  anchorites  in  general  lived  separ- 
ately, but  sometimes  in  communities.  The  nuns  lived 
in  perpetual  solitude,  as  also  did  the  monks,  with  the 
exception  of  such  as  devoted  themselves  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  public  affairs  of  the  church.  The  knights 
were  soldiers  of  the  cross,  instituted  to  defend  and 
propagate  the  Piomish  faith  by  the  force  of  arms.  The 
orders  differed  from  one  another  chiefly  in  the  style  of 
their  dress,  in  degrees  of  rigidness  of  discipline,  and  in 
the  assumption  of  additional  vows.  They  all  assumed 
the  vow  of  absolute  poverty,  of  perpetual  celibacy,  and 
of  unconditional  obedience  to  the  rules  of  their  Order, 
and  to  the  commands  of  their  superior.  Each  member 
was  subject  to  the  absolute  authority  of  his  superior, 
who  resided  in  the  monastery ;  each  superior  to  the  ab- 
solute authority  of  his  general,  who  resided  at  Kome, 
and  each  general  to  the  absolute  authority  of  the  Pope, 
who  was  the  head  and  the  chief  engineer  of  the  Avholo 
machine.  By  means  of  this  machinery  the  monarchi- 
cal power  of  the  Pope  has  been,  and  is  still,  although 
the  machinery  in  some  places  is  somewhat  damaged, 


OF   THE   PAPAL   POWEE.  17 

exerted  in  every  kingdom,  in  every  republic,  in  every 
city,  and  over  every  Catholic  mind  in  Christendom. 

When  a  novice  assumed  the  monastic  vovrs,  he  be- 
came the  absolute  property,  or  chattel,  of  the  institution 
which  he  entered,  as  irreversibly  as  if  he  had  signed, 
sealed,  and  delivered  a  deed  conveying  to  it  his  soul 
and  body.  By  this  act  of  piety  he  yielded  up  his 
personal  freedom,  and  became  ironed  with  the  shackles 
of  an  eternal  slavery.  A  culprit  might  hope  for  liberty 
when  his  time  would  expire,  but  the  recluse  could  only 
expect  disenthralment  by  death.  If  disappointed  in 
finding  the  holiness  which  he  fancied  to  hallow  the 
place,  or  if,  relieved  of  the  misanthropic  gloom,  the 
isolating  superstition,  or  the  delusive  representations 
which  had  induced  him  to  enter  the  monastic  walls,  he 
should  escape,  he  was  pursued,  and  if  captured  remanded 
back  by  the  civil  authorities  to  the  cold  solitude  of  his 
prison  house.  Not  only  have  these  cruel  deeds  been 
perpetrated  in  the  dark  ages,  but  in  this  age  of  civiliz- 
ation— not  only  in  despotic  Europe,  but  in  free  Amer- 
ica. True,  the  civil  authority  in.  Protestant  countries 
has  not  interfered,  but  Catholic  ingenuity  has  discov- 
ered means  equally  efficacious.  How  many  escaped 
nuns  have  unaccountably  disappeared  from  society? 
"What  infamous  means  have  Catholic  priests  adojDted  to 
fill  their  nunneries  ?  A  young  girl  in  Baltimore,  who 
had  just  passed  her  sixteenth  year,  was  carried  to  a 
nunnery,  and  although  her  mother  and  relatives  invoked 
the  interposition  of  the  civil  authorities,  yet  they  were 
unable  to  reclaim  her,  because  she  had  arrived  at  age. 
Who  that  has  any  conception  of  the  numerous  applica- 
tions of  distracted  mothers  at  the  police  station-houses 
2* 


18  rOLITICAL    MACHINERY 

of  some  of  our  large  cities,  for  their  children,  who  have 
mysteriously  disapj^eared  ;  or  that  has  read  the  account 
recently  published  in  the  New  York  papers,  (of  the 
recovery  of  the  body  of  a  young  female  who  had  been 
drowned,  v/hen  in  one  day  eight  mothers  called  at  the 
dead-bouse  to  see  if  the  corpse  was  not  that  of  a 
daughter  w^hom  each  had  missed),  can  avoid  believing 
that  if  the  nunneries  were  open  to  public  inspection, 
some  of  these  mysteries  might  be  resolved  ? 

After  the  ceremonies  were  concluded  which  sepulchred 
the  novice  forever  in  his  monastic  cloister,  his  thoughts, 
feelings,  and  desires  were  henceforth  to  be  regulated, 
not  by  the  operations  of  the  brain,  but  by  the  rules  of 
his  Order.  The  most  secret  recesses  of  his  mind  were 
to  be  opened  to  the  inspection  of  his  confessor.  For 
the  intrusion  of  a  natural  thought  he  was  liable  to  the 
infliction  of  the  severest  penalty ;  and  the  voice  of  the 
superior  was  the  only  reason,  the  only  conscience,  the 
only  instinct  he  was  at  liberty  to  obey.  Subjected  to  a 
systematic  course  of  rigid  discipline  adapted  to  paralyze 
reason,  suppress  conscience  and  stifle  instinct,  he  became 
a  passionless,  soulless,  mechanical  automaton,  as  well 
formed  to  bless,  pray  and  preach,  as  to  curse,  forge  and 
murder,  and  equally  ready  to  do  either  at  the  man- 
date of  his  superior. 

When  the  superstition  of  the  masses,  the  ignorance  of 
princes,  the  ambition  of  politicians,  and  the  intrigues 
of  the  j^riesthood  had  favored  or  cultivated  the  growth 
of  Catholicism  until  it  was  matured  into  a  colossal  mon- 
archy, it  was  discovered  that  w^hile  its  centre  was  in 
Eome,  its  branches  extended  to  every  section  of  Chris- 
tendom.    Its  monasteries  conveniently  and  strategeti- 


OF   THE   PAPAL   POWER,  19 

cally  located  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  its  confess- 
ors penetrating  the  secret  designs  and  wishes  of  states- 
men and  princes,  its  spiritual  advisers  scrutinizing  the 
conduct  of  opulent  and  distinguished  personagas,  its 
spies,  under  the  license  of  Papal  indulgences,  profess- 
ing all  opinions,  and  entering  all  associations  and  socie- 
ties, and  its  agents  in  constant  communication  with 
their  superiors,  their  superiors  with  their  generals,  and 
their  generals  Avith  the  Pope,  and  all  acting  in  concert 
in  every  part  of  Christendom  toward  the  accomplishment 
of  one  grand  design  ;  the  See  of  Rome  became  the  recep- 
tacle of  accurate  accounts  of  the  condition,  events  and 
characters  of  the  various  sections  of  the  globe,  and  was 
capable  of  improving  every  occurrence  to  its  best  advan- 
tage, and  of  commanding  in  its  support  the  power  of 
every  locality.  As  nothing  was  too  great  to  transcend 
its  aspirations,  so  nothing  v/as  too  minute  to  escape  its 
scrutiny,  Monarchs,  legislators,  judges,  jurists,  states- 
men, generals,  bankers,  merchants,  actors,  schools,  col- 
leges, men,  women,  children — all  were  objects  which  its 
spiritual  machinery  sought  to  control.  Invisible,  but 
omniscient,  the  Pope  was  seen  nowhere,  while  his  power 
was  felt  everywhere.  He  touched  the  secret  springs  of 
his  machinery  and  the  world  was  roused  to  arms  or 
silenced  to  submission;  kings  were  astounded  with  ap- 
plauding subjects,  or  sat  powerless  on  their  thrones; 
armies  rushed  to  battle  or  grounded  their  arms ;  states- 
men were  blasted,  none  could  tell  for  what  crime  ;  mis- 
creants were  ennobled,  none  could  tell  for  what  virtue; 
men's  business  or  domestic  affairs  were  disarranged, 
none  could  tell  for  what  cause.  So  sudden,  secret  and 
terrible  were  the  revolutions  wrought  in  the  fate  of  in- 


20  POLITICAL   MACHINERY 

dividuals  and  nations,  that  they  seemed  like  the  venge- 
ful interposition  of  Providence,  and  the  mystery  which 
concealed  the  hidden  cause  led  the  ignorant  and  stupe- 
fied world  to  interpret  them,  under  the  instruction  of  a 
crafty  priesthood,  as  the  manifestations  of  divine  wrath. 
When  we  calmly  consider  the  disposition  of  the 
Catholic  organization,  it  seems  that  all  the  inventions  of 
ancient  tyranny  were  condensed  in  it  with  improved 
malignancy.  The  ambition  of  Caesar,  which  hurried  him 
on  to  the  destruction  of  the  liberties  of  his  country, 
while  he  imagined  the  cold  hand  of  his  departed  mother 
clasped  his  heart ;  the  jealousy  of  Commodus,  who  never 
spared  what  he  could  suspect ;  the  cruelty  of  Mithri- 
dates,  who  fed  on  poison  to  escape  the  secret  revenge  of 
his  injured  subjects;  the  inhumanity  of  Caligula,  who 
wished  the  world  had  but  one  neck,  that  he  might  cut 
off  its  disobedient  head  at  one  blow,  are,  indeed,  ter- 
rible examples  of  despotism,  but  they  were  limited  to 
one  nation,  and  left  reason  and  conscience  unshackled. 
But  in  the  Papal  organization  we  find  a  scrutiny  which 
penetrated  all  secrets,  a  despotism  that  ironed  reason 
and  conscience,  an  ambition  that  grasped  heaven  and 
earth,  a  malignity  that  blasted  for  time  and  eternity — a 
policy  in  which  all  the  elements  of  bigotry,  terror,  mal- 
ice, duplicity  and  obduracy  were  incorporated  in  their 
most  frightful  proportion.  Before  this  conception  we 
might  well  shudder,  for  its  irons  are  secretly  manacling 
our  own  limbs.  Its  triumphs,  written  in  the  blood  of 
the  millions  it  has  butchered,  commemorated  by  the 
monuments  of  ecclesiastical  rubbish  which  it  has  erected, 
seen  in  the  gloom  of  superstition  it  has  cast  upon  the 
world,  utter  a  solemn    admonition    to  the   freemen  of 


OF   THE   PAPAL  POWER.  21 

America.  Think  not  that  the  present  attainment  in 
civilization  is  proof  against  this  boundless  Upas — this 
all-blasting  tree,  whose  sap  is  poison  and  whose  fruit  is 
death.  Think  of  Egyptian,  Asiatic,  Grecian  civiliza- 
tion, and  tremble  lest  their  fate  become  your  own.  Let 
not  confidence  beget  an  apathy  that  may  close  the  eye 
of  vigilance,  or  enervate  the  powers  of  resistance.  Lis- 
ten to  Pope  Pius  IX.  when  he  declares  that  "  the  Cath- 
olic religion,  with  its  rights,  ought  to  be  exclusively 
dominant,  in  such  sort  that  every  other  worship  shall 
be  banished  and  interdicted."  Listen  to  Father  Hecker, 
who  says :  "  The  Catholic  Church  now  numbers  one- 
third  of  the  American  population,  and  if  its  member- 
ship increase  for  the  next  thirty  years,  as  it  has  for  the 
thirty  years  past,  in  1900  Eome  will  have  a  majority,  and 
be  bound  to  take  the  country  and  keep  it."  Read  the 
statistics  and  learn  the  fearful  probability  of  the  ful- 
fillment of  Hecker's  prophesy.  Then  dream  n&  more 
that  your  liberties  are  safe. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Monastic  Vow  of  Perpetual  Solitude. 

The  religious  Orders  were  the  fundamental  principle  of 
the  growth  of  the  Papal  monarchy.  These  orders  as- 
sumed certain  tows,  the  nature  and  tendency  of  which 
we  will  proceed  to  investigate  in  the  spirit  of  candid 
inquiry.  The  first  vow  to  which  we  will  invite  atten- 
tion, is  the  vow  of  perpetual  solitude  and  seclusion. 
Although  at  the  first  introduction  of  these  monastic 
orders  into  the  church,  this  vow,  and  those  which  we 
shall  hereafter  examine,  were  not  formally  assumed,  yet 
they  were  invariably  observed;  and  in  the  year  529, 
under  the  auspices  of  St.  Benedict,  the  express  assump- 
tion of  them  became  an  indispensable  condition  of 
membership.  Until  the  tenth  century,  the  hermits  and 
the  Benedictine  monks  and  nuns  were  the  only  Catholic 
Orders  that  existed ;  the  former  generally,  and  the  latter 
entirely,  lived  in  solitary  seclusion. 

The  devout  misanthropy  of  the  hermits  induced  them 
to  select  for  their  habitations  the  most  gloomy,  cheerless, 
and  inhospitable  regions  they  could  hunt  up.  Piously^ 
scorning  the  salubrious  and  magnificent  localities,  so 
prodigally  furnished  by  nature,  they  constructed  their 
huts  at  the  bottom  of  dismal  pits,  among  the  clifi"s  of 
rugged  rocks,  in  barren  deserts,  and  in  solitary  wilder- 
nesses. Some  lived  under  trees,  others  under  shelving 
rocks,  some  on  the  top  of  poles,  and  others  in  the  deserted 
caverns  of  wild  beasts.  Some  buried  themselves  in 
the  gloomy  depth  of  trackless  forests,  isolated  from  hu- 


SOLITUDE   AND   SECLUSION.  23 

man  contiguity,  and  assimilated  in  aspect  and  habits 
to  the  brute  creation.  Their  bodies  divested  of  decent 
apparel,  and  covered  with  a  profusion  of  hair,  and  their 
aspect  horrid  and  revolting  beyond  description,  the 
hermits  sought  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  saints  by 
attaining  the  nearest  possible  approximation  to  wild 
beasts.  Another  class  of  these  eccentric  devotees  con- 
structed a  number  of  contiguous  dungeons,  and  formed 
themselves  into  a  sort  of  monastic  community.  In 
these  vaults  they  imprisoned  themselves  for  life,  the 
door  being  locked,  and  sometimes  walled  up,  a  small 
window  only  was  allowed,  through  which  to  receive 
aliment  and  give  pious  advice.  In  these  dungeons  they 
manacled  their  limbs  with  ponderous  chains,  encircled 
their  necks  with  massive  collars,  and  clothed  their 
legs  with  heavy  greaves.  In  the  depth  of  winter  they 
would  immerse  themselves  in  icy  water,  and  sing 
psalms.  To  make  themselves  revolting ;  to  imitate  the 
habits  of  wild  animals,  until  they  became  more  horrible, 
because  more  unnatural;  to  subject  themselves  to  vol- 
untary torture,  severe  and  bloody  flagellations,  were 
deemed  the  highest  acts  of  piety.  Whatever  conspired 
to  comfort  they  considered  profane  ;  w^hatever  was  pleas- 
urable they  avoided  as  sinful ;  and  whatever  was  ab- 
surd, filthy,  and  disgusting,  they  imagined  allied  them 
to  gods  and  angels.  St.  Anthony,  who  was  so  holy  that 
he  never  w^ashed  himself,  nor  wore  any  apparel  except 
a  shirt,  was  canonized  by  the  Catholic  Church  for  his 
extraordinary  attainment  in  sanctification.  The  appro- 
bation which  the  church  so  readily  conferred  on  oddity 
and  singularity  might  at  the  first  appear  surprising, 
but  when   we    recollect  the    immense  pecuniary  and 


24  MONASTIC   VOW    OF 

political  advantage  slie  derived  from  them,  we  will  no 
longer  doubt  her  motive,  nor  avaricious  sagacity.  A 
singular  custom  suggested  by  this  ludicrous  institution 
may  be  worthy  of  a  passing  notice.  The  abbots  of  the 
monasteries,  in  order  to  dispose  of  a  brother  abbot, 
whose  celebrity  surpassed  their  own,  or  whose  circum- 
ventive  genius  they  feared,  or  who  had  excited  their 
suspicion,  jealousy  or  revenge,  would  congregate 
together,  and  declare  that  the  fated  brother  had  arrived 
at  a  degree  of  sanctification  that  better  qualified 
him  for  the  hermit's  cell  than  for  an  abbotship  of  a 
monastery,  and  that  to  protect  him  from  the  contamina- 
tion of  the  world,  and  to  enable  him  to  perfect  his  holi- 
ness, it  was  necessary  to  wall  him  up  in  eternal  seclu- 
sion. In  accordance  with  this  pious  regard  for  their 
brother's  sanctity,  they  adapted  summary  measures  for 
its  forcible  execution. 

Silence,  gloom  and  solitude,  according  most  congeni- 
ally with  the  designs  of  the  monastic  institutions,  they 
were  generally  located  in  sterile  wastes,  dense  and 
trackless  forests,  and  other  localities  adapted  to  excite 
the  sensation  of  loneliness,  dreariness  and  desolation ; 
but  when  secular  considerations  suggested  they  occu- 
pied picturesque  and  luxuriant  localities,  commanding 
the  sublimest  prospects  of  Nature.  These  edifices, 
which  often  rivalled  gorgeous  palaces,  were  nothing 
but  religious  penitentiaries,  in  which  the  inmates 
endured  all  the  privations,  and  were  shackled  with  all 
the  irons  with  which  criminals  are  punished  in  ordinary 
penal  institutions ;  and  though  they  were  ostensibly 
constructed  for  religious  purposes,  they  were  really  de- 
signed for  the  infliction  of  punishment,  in  accordance 


PEEPETUAL    SOLITUDE.  25 

with  the  ecclesiastical  code.  "With  regard  to  tliis  code 
Guizot  says  :  '*  The  Catholic  Church  did  not  draw  up  a 
code  like  ours,  which  took  account  only  of  those  crimes 
that  are  at  the  same  time  offensive  to  morals  and  dan- 
gerous to  Society,  and  punishing  them  only  because 
they  bore  this  two-fold  character ;  hut  prepared  a  cata- 
logue of  all  those  actions,  criminal  more  particularly  in 
a  moral  point  of  view,  and  punished  all  under  the 
name  of  sins.  (Gen.  Hist.  Civil.,  Lee.  x.,  p.  118).  In 
what  light  these  religious  penitentiaries  have  been  re- 
garded by  their  inmates  their  eternal  seclusion  has  pre- 
vented them  from  publicly  divulging,  but  the  few  who 
have  broken  their  enthralment,  and  the  "heretics'"' 
who  have  been  confined  in  them,  have  described  them 
as  the  most  intolerable  of  dungeons.  In  fact  the  mod- 
ern penitentiary  system  has  originated  from  them.. 
Guizot  thinks  this  is  one  of  the  great  blessings  which 
Catholicism  has  bestowed  on  society — (see  Gen.  Hist. 
Civil.,  Lect.  vi.,  p.  135). 

The  vow  of  perpetual  seclusion  comprises  a  renuncia- 
tion of  the  pleasures  and  business  of  life,  an  abnegation 
of  the  claims  of  consanguinity,  friendship  and  society ; 
and  an  abjuration  of  all  filial,  parental  and  natural 
afi'ection.  This  vow  is  in  contravention  of  the  obliga- 
tions imposed  on  man  by  Nature,  to  improve  society  by 
contributing  to  the  advancement  of  its  financial,  social, 
political  and  scientific  welfare.  It  precludes  the  exer- 
cise, and  consequent  development,  of  the  varied  powers 
of  the  human  organism.  It  surrenders  the  personal  re- 
finement and  moral  strength  which  may  be  acquired  by 
social  intercourse,  and  conflict  with  opposing  habits  and 
principles.  It  ignores  the  imperative  duty  of  under- 
3 


26  MONASTIC   VOW    OF 

standing  and  judiciously  relieving  liuman  want  and 
misery,  and  of  aiding  the  execution  of  efficient  schemes 
of  public  utility  and  philanthropy.  It  is  not  only  in 
violation  of  the  obligations  of  humanity,  and  the 
noblest  principles  of  human  enjoyment,  but  it  debars 
the  recluse  from  correcting  any  error  into  which  he  may 
have  been  betrayed  by  false  representations,  or  an  over- 
heated fancy  ;  or,  of  modifying  his  condition  according 
to  the  change  which  experience  and  reflection  may  have 
effected  in  his  opinion  and  feelings.  Yet,  although  such 
are  the  absurd  nature  and  injurious  consequences  of  the 
vow  of  perpetual  seclusion,  it  is  proposed  by  the  church 
of  Rome,  as  the  surest  means  of  obtaining  the  sancti- 
fication  of  the  soul  and  the  crown  of  eternal  happiness. 
If  to  bury  our  talents,  to  wall  ourselves  up  in  a 
dungeon  ;  to  sit  for  years  upon  a  pole  ;  to  scorn  the  soci- 
ety of  human  beings  ;  to  reject  the  comforts  of  civil- 
ized life  ;  to  retrograde  into  barbarism ;  to  assume  the 
habits,  and  acquire  the  aspect  of  wild  animals ;  to  im- 
prison ourselves  where  we  can  never  respond  to  the 
demands  of  consanguinity,  society,  friendship  and  pa- 
triotism :  where  we  can  never  contribute  to  the  knowl- 
edge, wealth  or  prosperity  of  the  country  of  our  nativ- 
ity— if  this  is  religion,  then  Catholicism  has  the  honor 
of  confirming  the  most  revolting  condensation  of  these 
monstrosities  that  has  ever  disgusted  the  spirit  of  civ- 
ilization. But  if  religion  really  consists  in  fair  dealing, 
in  noble  deeds,  in  moral  integrity  amid  moral  turpi- 
tude, in  individual  purity  amid  general  corruption,  in 
unwavering  virtue  among  the  strongest  incentives  to 
guilt,  then  the  organization  that  sanctions  vows  subvers- 
ive   of    these    attainments   cannot    be   admitted,  con- 


PERPETUAL   SOLITUDE.'  27 

slstently  with  the  most  indulgent  liberality,  to  be  of  a 
religious  character. 

Thus  far  in  our  judgment,  we  have  presumed  that 
the  novices,  in  assuming  their  vow,  were  actuated  by 
the  laudable  desire  of  obtaining  the  highest  degree  of 
moral  purity.  This  worthy  ambition  was  doubtless  the 
governing  motive  of  a  proportion  of  them.  Either 
from  the  instigations  of  moral  insanity,  or  from  the  va- 
garies of  a  distempered  fancy,  or  from  the  misrepresen- 
tation of  artful  and  designing  priests,  or  from  the  des- 
pondency which  misfortune  is  apt  to  engender  in  weak, 
or  too  sensitive  minds,  or  from  a  misconception  of  the 
natural  tendency  of  solitude,  men  and  women  have  at 
times  been  led  to  assume  the  vows,  and  submit  to  the 
penancG  prescribed  by  the  religious  orders.  But  there 
were  other  motives  equally,  and  perhaps  more  generally, 
active.  Ludicrous  as  were  their  holy  isolation  and  pen- 
ance, still  the  sanctity  which  the  monks  imitated,  and 
the  tortures  which  they  self-imposed,  were  rewarded  by 
a  credulous  and  superstitious  world  with  profound 
homage  and  admiration.  By  undergoing  sufferings 
which  appeared  intolerable  to  human  fortitude,  they 
acquired  the  reputation  of  being  sustained  by  divine 
agency ;  and,  as  their  popularity  increased  in  propor- 
tion to  their  wretchedness,  they  labored  to  extend  their 
fame  by  adding  to  their  misery.  Their  sufferings  and 
fortitude  alike  incomprehensible  to  human  reason,  an 
awe-struck  fancy  betrayed  the  public  into  the  delusion 
that  what  it  beheld  was  the  results  of  superhuman 
sanctity  ;  of  a  sublime  elevation  above  ordinary  human- 
ity ;  and  of  the  interposition  of  divine  power.  These 
misconceptions,  artfully  cultivated  by  the  priesthood, 


28  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

extended  the  fame  of  the  self-tormentors  Leyond  the 
celebrity  of  heroes,  poets  and  philosophers.  Kings  and 
queens  visited  them  with  superstitious  reverence ;  states- 
men consulted  them  on  abstruse  questions  of  govern- 
mental policy ;  peace  and  war  were  made  at  their 
mandates ;  and  pilgrims  from  remote  regions  bowed  at 
their  feet  and  begged  their  blessing.  Thus  favored  by 
the  profound  homage  of  all  classes  of  Christendom,  they 
were  enabled  with  more  facility  than  any  other  profes- 
sion to  become  opulent  bishops,  royal  cardinals,  or 
monarchical  popes.  Such  being  their  eligibility  to  the 
honors  and  emoluments  of  the  spiritual  dignities  of  the 
church,  vanity  was  quick  to  perceive  that  the  anchorite's 
hut  and  the  monk's  cloister  were  the  surest  paths  to 
universal  adulation ;  religion,  that  they  were  the  most 
respectable  methods  of  becoming  honored  in  life,  and 
worshipped  after  death ;  avarice,  that  they  were '  the 
most  available  means  of  obtaining  lucrative  positions ; 
and  ambition,  that  thay  were  the  shortest  roads  to  dig- 
nity and  power.  Yv^ith  these  attractive  facts  glaring  on 
the  eye  of  sacred  aspirants,  it  requires  but  little  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  to  conceive  with  what  avidity 
the  ambitious  would  crowd  into  the  most  repulsive 
cloisters  ;  with  what  eagerness  they  would  adopt  the 
revolting  habits  and  ludicrous  privations  of  the  recluse  ; 
and  with  what  ingenuity  they  would  indurate  and  tor- 
ture the  body,  in  order  to  win  the  applause  of  the 
world,  and  the  privilege  of  selecting  its  most  advan- 
geous  positions.  Accordingly,  monastery  after  monas- 
tery arose  with  sudden  and  astonishing  rapidity,  and 
their  cells  became  supplied — not  with  aspirants  after 
holiness  and  heaven — but  with  aspirants  after  secular 


PERPETUAL    SECLUSION.  29 

and  ecclesiastical  dignities,  and  the  indolence,  luxury, 
and  licentiousness  which,  they  afforded. 

The  pious  flattery  that  was  lavished  on  voluntary 
suffering,  and  the  distinguished  rewards  which  recom- 
pensed it,  strongly  tempted  the  feeble  conscience  of 
monks  and  hermits,  to  task  their  ingenuity  in  invent- 
ing contrivances  for  magnifying  the  apparent  and 
diminishing  the  real  sufferings  of  their  self-imposed 
torture.  By  the  aid  of  an  improved  invention  an 
artful  hypocrite  could  procure  a  greater  reputation  for 
sanctity  than  a  contrite  penitent,  and  become  more  eli- 
gible to  the  worldly  honors  and  emoluments  of  the 
church.  St.  Simeon  Stylites,  who  sat  upon  a  pole  for 
thirty  years,  convinced  Christendom,  by  his  wonderful 
absurdity,  that  he  was  miraculously  supported ;  while 
living  he  enjoyed  its  profoundest  respect,  and  when 
dead  was  canonized  by  the  Catholic  Church.  But  an 
observer  by  describing  the  numerous  gesticulations  of 
this  sainted  mountebank,  diclosed  the  secret  of  his  arti- 
fice. By  means  of  a  system  of  gymnastics,  he  kept  up 
a  vigorous  circulation  of  blood  through  his  frame,  and 
thus  acqired  a  health  and  longevity  which  would  have 
been  incompatible  with  a  state  of  inactivity.  But  it 
appears  that  he  was  tormented  with  an  ulcer  on  the 
thigh,  inflicted  by  the  devil,  who  had  tempted  him  to 
imitate  Elijah  in  flying  to  heaven,  but  who  maliciously 
smote  him  upon  his  raising  his  foot  to  make  the  ascen- 
sion. His  mystical  gesticulations  not  healing,  but 
probably  inflaming  the  wound,  may  have  shortened  the 
natural  term  of  his  miserable  existence.  As  he  had 
gradually  arisen  from  a  pole  of  seven  feet  high  to  one 
of  fifty  feet  high,  if  had  not  been  for  his  vanity  and 
3* 


so  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

his  evil  company  he  might  have  gained  a  still  higher 
position ;  but  whether  by  this  means  he  would  ever 
have  reached  heaven  may  be  questioned  by  astronomy 
and  heresy :  but  there  is  no  doubt  he  acquired  by  his 
folly  and  artifice  the  beatification  of  the  Catholic 
Church. 

The  apathy  with  which  the  self-tormenters  endured 
their  excruciating  penance  and  the  severe  rigors  of  the 
seasons,  was  chiefly  the  effect  of  artificial  callousness, 
induced  by  an  ingenious  discipline,  calculated  to  destroy 
the  susceptibility  of  the  nervous  system  to  the  influence 
of  external  agents.  A  similar  course  of  training  has 
always  been  practiced  by  the  religious  orders  of  the 
Hindoos  and  the  Mohametans,  who,  like  those  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  endure  self-imposed  torture  which 
seems  to  surpass  human  fortitude,  and  acquire  by  this 
species  of  ambition  unbounded  popularity.  Even  the 
uncleanness  of  the  holy  brotherhood  was  an  artifice.  It 
formed  a  protecting  incrustation  on  the  surface  of  the 
skin,  which,  by  covering  the  the  papillse,  the  sentient, 
organs,  or  destroying  their  capacity  for  sensation, 
enable  the  hermits  to  endure  without  apparent  emotion 
the  cold  winters  and  bleak  winds  of  inhospitable  for- 
ests. This  secret  is  known  and  practised  by  some 
African  tribes,  upon  whom  washing  is  consequently  in- 
flicted as  a  penalty  for  crimes.  To  the  eye  of  supersti- 
tion, clouded  v/ith  ignorance,  and  fascinated  by  the  ignes 
fatui  of  sacred  fiction,  the  calmness  of  the  monks  and 
hermits  under  torments  and  exposures  which  seemed 
insuflferable  to  humanity,  appeared  a  palpable  demon- 
stration of  miraculous  interposition,  and  consecrated 
them  in  its  estimation.     Their  acts,  however,  were  as 


PERPETUAL     SEOLUSIOX.  31 

mucli  tricka  as  are  the  mysterious  capers  of  a  conjurer. 
As  the  more  artful  and  callous  could  endure  the  sever- 
ity of  penitential  acts  with,  greater  indifference  than 
the  candid  and  sensitive  they  acquired  a  higher  repu- 
tation for  holiness,  advanced  to  the  enjoyment  of  more 
distinguished  honors,  and  finally  became  canonized  as 
paragons  of  virtue  and  objects  of  adoration. 

Such  are  the  nature  and  consequences  of  the  vow  of 
perpetual  seclusion.  Such  is  a  portion  of  the  "  doc- 
trinal definition  already  made  by  the  general  councils 
and  former  pontiffs,"  which,  according  to  Bishop  Ken- 
drick,  "  are  landmarks  which  no  man  can  remove," 
(Primacy,  p.  356).  Such  are  some  of  the  Catholic 
dogmas,  which,  "  in  regard  to  every  subject  whatever,' 
according  to  Brownson  "  have  been  always  the  same 
from  the  beginning,  remain  always  unchangeably  the 
same,  and  will  always  continue  in  every  part  of  the 
world  immutable."  (Review,  January,  1850).  Such 
is  in  part  "what  the  church  has  done,  what  she  has 
tacitly  or  expressly  approved  in  the  past,"  and  accord- 
ing to  the  same  authority  "is  exactly  what  she  will 
tacitly  or  expressly  approve  in  the  future,  if  the  same 
circumstances  occur."  (Review,  January,  1854).  "  The 
same  citcumstances"  is  the  universal  church,  which  Je- 
suit Hecker,  in  his  recent  speech  in  Chicago,  thinks  the 
United  States  needs,  and  which  the  people  (Catholics) 
will  at  no  distant  day  proclaim. 


CHAPTER  IV, 

Tlie  Monastic  Vow  of  Perpetual  Silence. 

A  vow  of  perpetual  silence  was  assumed  by  several 
religious  orders ;  but  it  was  observed  with  different  de- 
grees of  austerity.  Some  monks  passed  their  whole 
lives  in  profound  silence  ;  others  spoke  on  certain  days 
of  the  week  ;  and  others  at  particular  hours  of  speci- 
fied days.  The  modern  penitentiary  regulations  respect- 
ing the  conversation  of  prisoners  seem  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  singular  customs  of  the  dumb  brother- 
hood. 

The  members  cf  the  mute  orders,  perpetually  con- 
cealing their  features  with  their  cowls,  and  their 
thoughts  by  their  silence,  appear  to  have  concluded 
that  secrecy  was  the  substance  of  religion.  He  who 
could  conceal  the  best,  and  preserve  silence  the  lojigest, 
obtained  among  the  devout  the  useful  credit  of  possess- 
ing the  most  grace.  The  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which,  by  a  prodigal  distribution  of  tongues,  and  their 
clashing  jargon,  had  set  the  primitive  ecclesiastical 
council  in  an  uproar,  and  which,  by  its  powerfully 
stimulating  qualities  had  turned  so  many  cities  up- 
side down,  had  a  very  different  effect  on  the  silent 
orders  of  the  Catholic  Church.  AVhile  to  the  former  it 
communicated  intuitive  knowledge  of  all  languages,  to 
the  latter  it  interdicted  as  profane  the  use  of  any.  To 
pass  an  entire  life  without  uttering  a  word,  was  consid- 
ered by  the  dumb  friars,  as  an  unquestionable  evidence 
of  their  having  received  the  unutterable  fulness  of  the 


PERPETUAL    SILENCE.  33 

Holy  Ghost.  "Whether  the  primitive  church  and  the 
Catholic  orders  were  blest  with  the  influence  of  the 
same  Holy  Ghost,  or  whether  the  divine  spirit  politely 
accommodates  the  nature  of  his  unction  to  the  demands 
of  particular  ecclesiastical  exigencies,  seems  to  require 
some  proof,  before  it  can  be  rationally  admitted  that 
profound  silence  and  distracting  discord  are  effects  of 
the  same  cause. 

But  the  question  of  truth  and  error  is  of  a  less  intri- 
cate nature.  Truth  is  candid,  open  and  fearless  ;  error 
is  hidden,  intolerant  and  cowardly.  The  one  challenges 
investigation  ;  the  other  denounces  it ;  the  one  opens  its 
breast  to  the.  scrutinizing  gaze  of  the  world ;  the  other 
conceals  its  features  from  the  most  intimate  associate. 
If  such  is  the  fearlessness  of  truth,  and  such  the 
cowardice  of  error,  the  secrecy  of  the  silent  orders 
commends  them  less  to  the  confidence  which  candor 
inspires,  than  to  the  suspicion  which  secrecy  begets. 

Secrecy  is  most  generally  adopted  to  cover  objection- 
able designs ;  and,  the  profounder  the  former  is,  the 
more  objectionable  are  the  latter.  I  speak  not  of  the 
secret  signs  by  which  benevolent  societies  recognize 
their  members,  but  of  those  associations  which,  while 
they  are  professedly  designed  for  religious  purposes, 
conceal  their  principles  and  projects  from  public  view. 
Although  in  some  other  respects  secrecy  may  sometimes 
be  suggested  by  discretion,  yet  it  is  often  suggested  by 
guilt.  All  that  off"end  against  the  natural  sentiments 
of  propriety,  shrink  from  the  public  gaze.  Eobbery, 
murder,  and  every  other  infraction  of  civil  ordinations 
seek  to  shroud  their  intentions  and  machinations  in  the 
greatest   secrecy.     The   traitor   and   the   highwayman/ 


34  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

afar  from  the  searching  scrutiny  of  the  inquisitive,  re- 
tire to  solitary  forests,  inaccessible  retreats,  and  dismal 
caverns,  to  hold  their  conclaves  and  plot  schemes  of 
blood  and  depredation.  Evasion,  prevarication  and 
disguise  are  the  inseparable  concomitants  of  guilt.  So 
secret  is  crime  that  its  perpetration  can  generally  only 
be  established  by  circumstantial  evidence.  Secrecy  is, 
therefore,  naturally  calculated  to  excite  suspicion ;  it 
seldom  means  good ;  it  generally  means  evil  ;  some- 
times robbery,  frequently  murder,  often  treason,  always 
some  ]3lot  so  antagonistical  to  reason  and  the  welfare  of 
society  that  its  projectors  are  conscious  that  publicity 
would  endanger,  and  perhaps  defeat  its  execution. 

The  shocking  crimes  which  the  pious  monasteries  con- 
cealed have  frequently  been  divulged  by  those  who 
have  escaped  from  their  cloisters,  but  what  unutter- 
able deeds  the  taciturnity  of  the  mute  monks  sanctioned 
may  not  be  so  clearly  proved  as  naturally  imagined. 
That  it  was  exceedingly  profitable  will  appear  evident 
upon  a  moment's  reflection.  These  dumb  friars  were 
confessors,  and  as  they  never  uttered  a  word,  they  ac- 
quired the  confidence  of  the  most  desperate  criminals. 
The  Jesuits,  who  could  not  disclose  the  startling  secrets 
of  their  order  without  alarming  the  fears  of  temporal 
princes,  confessed  to  none  but  to  the  silent  monks.  All 
the  devout  who  contemplated  the  commission  of  the 
crimes  of  murder,  sedition,  or  treason,  preferred  to  un- 
bosom their  designs  to  the  taciturn  fraternity,  and  re- 
ceive through  their  agency  the  absolution  and  indulg- 
ence of  the  Holy  Roman  Catholic  Church.  But  the 
connivance  of  the  church  at  criminal  deeds  could  be 
commanded  only  by  the  power  of  gold ;  and  the  amount 


TERPETUAL    SILENCE.  85 

requisite  for  expiation  was  always  in  proportion  to  tKe 
atrociousness  of  the  crime.  Now,  as  the  commission  of 
the  highest  misdemeanors  most  imminently  endangered 
the  life  and  liberty  of  the  perpetrators;  it  is  as  easy  to 
see  the  munificent  pecuniary  advantages  which  perpet- 
ual silence  obtained  for  the  monks,  as  it  is  to  see  that 
the  most  flagitious  criminals  would  prefer  disclosing 
their  intentions  to  the  most  silent  lips. 

It  may  here  be  remarked,  by  way  of  explanation, 
that  confessors  are  not  bound,  as  is  generally  supposed, 
to  inviolate  secrecy.  The  secrets  of  the  confessional 
may  be  communicated  from  one  priest  to  another  ;  and, 
when  a  confessor  desires  to  make  public  use  of  any  in- 
formation which  has  been  confessed  to  him,  he  adopts 
the  artifice  of  requesting  the  informer  to  communicate 
the  matter  to  him  out  of  the  confessional. 

The  dumb  friars,  not  less  artful  than  secret,  elabor- 
ated a  system  of  sacred  gesticulations,  by  which  they 
managed  to  express  their  wants  and  desires  with  as 
much  force  as  they  could  have  done  with  their  tongues. 
Although  grimace  and  gesticulation  were  more  clumsy 
and  less  varied  in  their  signs  than  is  vocal  articulation, 
yet  by  this  means  the  dumb  monks  contrived,  as  occa- 
sion suggested,  to  describe,  command,  supplicate,  scorn, 
imprecate,  curse  or  bless.  This  odd  device  was  well 
adapted  to  the  non-committal  policy  of  the  religious 
orders,  as  it  enabled  them  to  aflirm,  deny,  impugn,  slan- 
der ;  to  threaten  any  dignity,  anathematize  any  power, 
and  commit  any  crime  of  which  language  is  capable, 
without  incurring  responsibility,  violating  any  legal 
enactment,  rendering  themselves  amenable  to  any  tribu- 
nal, or  answerable  for  the  breach  of  any  code  of  honor. 


36  MONASTIC    VOW    OF 

The  adoption  of  this  ingenious  device  to  avoid  com- 
pliance with  unnatural  obligations,  affords  an  instance 
of  the  singular  duplicity  into  which  the  subtilty  of  pi- 
ous craft  may  betray  human  nature.  The  misfortune 
of  being  born  a  mute  is  justly  classed  among  the  most 
deplorable  calamities  that  can  afflict  a  human  being. 
The  natural  privations  of  such  a  person  elicit  in  his 
favor  the  condoling  sympathies  of  all  considerate  per- 
sons. Yet  in  order  to  accomplish  secret  purposes  of 
ambition  or  cupidity,  the  dumb  monks  resigned  the 
most  important  advantages  with  which  Nature  had  en- 
riched them,  and  gratuitously  assumed  all  the  disad- 
vantages that  the  greatest  calamity  could  have  imposed. 
If  there  was  nothing  reprehensible  in  the  taciturn  fra- 
ternity but  this  curious  departure  from  the  natural  use 
of  the  human  faculties,  it  alone  would  be  sufficient  to 
subject  them  to  the  suspicion  of  the  candid,  and  the 
aversion  of  the  prudent. 

The  tongue,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  sometimes  an  un- 
ruly member,  but  it  is  also  the  noblest  blessing  of  the 
human  organism.  It  is  among  the  most  prominent 
characteristics  that  distinguish  the  human  from  the 
brute  creation.  It  is  mostly  by  the  means  of  the  judi- 
cious employment  of  speech  that  the  ignorant  are  in- 
structed, the  afflicted  consoled,  and  the  cause  of  truth 
and  freedom  defended.  It  is  by  it  that  error  is  detected, 
vice  intimidated,  and  superstition  and  despotism  are 
exposed.  The  interchange  of  opinion,  the  animating 
power  of  debate,  the  searching  inquisition  of  truth,  the 
spontaneous  sallies  of  wit,  the  exhilarating  effusions  of 
humor,  the  burst  of  eloquence,  the  lore  of  philosophy, 
art,  science,  all  the  natural  overflowing  of  the  soul,  find 


TERPETUAL    SILENCE.  37 

in  the  varied  and  expressive  functions  of  speecli  tlieir 
most  available  avenues  for  the  outlet  of  their  respective 
treasures.  Speech  is  a  reflective  blessing;  it  blesses 
him  who  exercises  it,  and  him  upon  whom  it  is  ex- 
ercised. None  can  use  with  propriety  their  vocal 
powers  without  improving  them;  none  can  instruct 
without  being  instructed;  none  can  advocate  truth 
without  being  enlightened  by  its  beams.  It  is  a  means 
which  all  possess  of  imparting  consolation ;  w^hich  en- 
riches the  more  prodigally  it  is  dispensed ;  which  the 
poorest  may  bestow  on  the  richest ;  which  is  always  the 
cheapest,  often  the  most  valuable,  and  sometimes  the 
only  one  that  can  avail.  When  speech  is  free  and  un- 
trammeled  by  the  fetters  of  intolerance,  it  is  the  most 
efficacious  mode  of  improving  the  moral  and  intellectual 
tone  of  society.  It  is  more  powerful  than  legal  enact- 
ments, and  has  been  more  successful  than  dungeons, 
racks,  and  all  the  prescriptions  of  tyranny  combined. 
Laws  may  interdict  and  gibbets  terrify,  but  neither  can 
convince  the  understanding,  nor  purify  the  sources  of 
action.  But  freedom  of  speech  enters  the  soul,  con- 
verses with  the  intellect,  sifts  opinions,  and  moulds  the 
nature  of  man  into  order  and  justice.  She  enters  the 
halls  of  legislation  and  erects  right  into  law.  She 
enters  the  court  and  gives  equity  to  judicial  proceed- 
ings. She  enters  a  community  and  breaks  the  irons  of 
slavery,  bestows  equality  on  all,  and  enthrones  in  power 
public  opinion.  She  enters  a  nation  of  slaves  and 
makes  them  a  nation  of  sovereigns.  She  is  the  great 
redeemer  of  the  moral  world.  Her  touch  has  healed 
its  disorders ;  her  voice  has  calmed  its  storms ;  her 
spirit  has  reanimated  its  dead.  Such  being  her  mission, 
4 


38  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

none  but  impostors  need  fear  her  scrutiny ;  none  but 
bigots  need  dread  her  vengeance ;  none  but  tyrants 
need  tremble  at  her  approach. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  immense  advantages  the 
power  of  speech  confers  on  its  possessors,  the  silent 
monks  have  resigned  all  right  to  its  use  and  sought 
an  equality  with  dumb  brutes.  Whatever  motives 
of  religion  may  have  mingled  with  the  consumma- 
tion of  this  atrocious  folly,  it  atones  not  for  the  good  it 
has  prohibited  the  monks  from  doing,  nor  the  luxurious 
pleasure  it  has  obliged  them  to  forego.  If  it  is  consist- 
ent with  the  secret  designs  of  any  religious  order  to 
iron  the  faculties  of  speech  in  eternal  silence,  it  is  not 
consistent  with  the  designs  of  Nature,  the  dictate  of 
reason,  nor  the  progress  of  man.  If  it  is  consistent  with 
the  obligations  of  any  religious  organization  to  prohibit 
the  exercise  of  those  powers  by  which  error  is  checked, 
truth  promoted,  virtue  fortified,  and  the  world  en- 
lightened, it  is  not  consistent  with  the  obligations  of 
man,  the  purest  instincts  of  his  being,  and  the  noblest 
virtues  of  his  nature.  If  it  is  consistent  with  the  prin- 
cijjles  of  any  version  of  religion  to  view  with  dumb  in- 
difference the  errors  it  might  correct,  or  the  sorrows  it 
might  heal,  it  is  not  consistent  with  the  instinctive  ^ 
prompting  of  knowledge  or  of  natural  sympathy.  And 
if  such  designs,  obligations  and  principles  are  consistent 
with  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Catholic  Church,  she 
is  a  curse  to  the  world,  at  variance  with  the  general 
interests  of  society,  opposed  to  the  most  sacred  rights  of 
man,  an  enemy  to  human  knowledge,  to  human  pro- 
gress, and  to  human  sympathy.  A  slavery  so  abject, 
an  absurdity  so  gross,  and  a  despotism  so  monstrous, 


PERPETUAL    SILENCE.  39 

as  that  whicK  she  sanctions,  should  consign  her  rev- 
erence to  contempt,  and  her  holiness  to  the  scorn  and 
ridicule  of  all  enlightened  nations  and  ages. 


*       CHAPTER  Y. 

The  Monastic  Vow  of  Silc7it  Coiiterrvplatioji . 


37npi 


PAKT     FIRST 


Meditation  not  the  Source  of  Knowledge. 

Similar  in  nature  to  the  vow  of  seclusion  and  silence, 
and  equally  incompatible  with  a  fulfilment  of  the  obli- 
gations of  reason  and  humanity,  was  the  vow  of  silent 
contemplation  assumed  by  many  of  the  religious  orders. 
Meditation,  abstractly  considered,  is  neither  a  virtue 
nor  a  vice.  It  derives  its  merit  or  demerit  from  the 
objects  on  which  it  dwells,  and  the  manner  in  w^hich  it 
employs  its  faculties.  The  mind  receiving  its  impres- 
sion from  external  objects,  and  their  vividness  and 
profundity  being  in  proportion  to  the  constancy  with 
which  they  are  contemplated,  we  as  naturally  become 
enlightened  by  what  is  true,  expanded  by  what  is  lib- 
eral, and  animated  by  what  is  pleasing,  as  we  are 
misguided  by  w^hat  is  erroneous,  contracted  by  w^hat  is 
illiberal,  and  depressed  by  what  is  gloomy.  Amid 
objects  of  reality,  amid  scenes  of  grandeur,  where  the 
subjects  are  the  most  numerous  and  varied,  and  where 
the  faculties  are  cawakened  to  their  severest  and  most 
rigid  scrutiny,  is  the  great  college  in  which  the  under- 
standing is  invigorated  and  improved ;  in  which  the 
fancy  is  ennobled  and  chastened ;  in  which  the  mind 
acquires   those    maxims   of  wisdom,   and    that   ascend- 


SILENT    COXTEMPLATIOX.  41 

ency  over  impulse  and  illusion  Avhicli  enable  it  to  act 
in  conformity  with  the  principles  of  happiness  and  of 
the  human  organism. 

The  process  of  meditation  is  the  act  of  comparing 
facts,  deducing  conclusions,  analyzing  compounds,  and 
tracing  the  chain  of  cause  and  effect.  Knowledge  is  the 
material  with  which  it  works ;  and,  in  proportion  to  its 
accuracy  and  extent,  will  be  the  value  and  greatness  of 
our  elaborations. 

But  the  processes  of  meditation  are  not  adapted  to 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  None  are  so  absurd  as 
to  expect  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  grammar,  arithmetic, 
history,  astronomy,  or  of  the  laws  and  properties  of 
matter,  by  the  mere  exercise  of  the  contemplative 
powers.  To  retire  into  solitude,  and  endeavor  by  the 
guess-work  of  meditation  to  acquire  even  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  alj)habet,  would  be  as  ridiculous  as  to 
attempt  to  make  our  feet  perform  the  ofBce  of  our 
hands.  Not  less  absurd  would  it  be,  were  we  to  im- 
mure ourselves  in  the  gloom  and  silence  of  perpetual 
confinement,  avoiding  the  objects  of  Nature  and  an  in- 
tercourse with  society,  with  the  expectation  that  by 
such  means,  though  we  possessed  the  penetration  of  a 
Locke,  the  intellect  of  a  Gibbon,  or  the  versatility  of 
a  Voltaire,  to  acquire  anything  but  profound  ignorance  ; 
or  any  ideas  but  what  were  unnatural,  distorted  and 
misshapen. 

To  obtain  knowledge  we  must  exercise  the  perceptive 
faculties.  The  senses  of  seeing,  hearing,  smelling, 
tasting  and  touching  are  the  only  avenues  by  which 
knowledge  can  reach  the  mind.  He  whose  observation 
has  been  the  most  comprehensive,  and  whose  investiga- 
4* 


42  MONASTIC   VOW    OF 

tiong  have  been  the  most  thorough  and  accurate,  is 
enabled  to  exercise  the  contemplative  powers  with  the 
.greatest  pleasure  and  advantage.  The  distinct  and 
graphic  imagery  of  men,  scenes,  events,  objects  and  their 
properties,  with  which  he  has  stored  his  mind,  will  give 
correctness  to  his  ideas,  variety  to  his  mental  opera- 
tions, comprehensiveness  to  his  intellectual  view,  clear- 
ness to  his  judgment,  and  truth  to  his  conclusions. 
Possessing  the  elements  of  correctness,  he  will  also 
possess  the  elements  of  happiness  and  success.  He  is 
enabled  to  open  the  volume  of  Nature,  and  read,  in  her 
pages  of  rocks  and  stars,  sublimer  periods  than  the  pen 
of  superstition  ever  recorded.  He  stands  perpetually 
in  the  vestibule  of  truth,  opening  on  the  fields  of  im- 
mensity, strewed  with  objects  of  reality,  before  the 
blaze  of  ^vhose  overpowering  grandeur  the  throne  and 
empire  of  fancy  dwindle  into  insignificance.  He  is 
enabled  to  imbibe  the  fervor,  inhale  the  inspiration, 
and  enjoy  the  ecstatic  delights  which  scientific  truth 
alone  can  confer,  and  which  in  intensity  and  purity  so 
far  transcend  the  fanatic's  wildest  excitement.  He  is 
inducted  into  the  secret  by  which  science  has  achieved 
all  her  victories,  and  by  which  she  has  erected  in  such 
solid  grace  and  grandeur  those  literary  and  philosoph- 
ical structures  which  stand  like  imperishable  columns 
amid  the  ruin  of  temples  and  kingdoms. 

But  the  acquisition  of  these  exalted  attainments  em- 
braces the  exercise  of  all  the  intellectual  power  on  ap- 
propriate objects.  The  mental,  like  the  corporeal  pow- 
ers, are  various  ;  they  are  differently  organized  and 
adapted  to  deal  with  objects  of  different  natures;  and, 
all  require  to  be  exercised  judiciously,  in  order  to  be 


SILENT    COKTEMPLATIOK  4a 

kept  in  a  healthy  tone.  If  any  member  of  the  body 
is  disused,  it  will  be  deprived  of  its  natural  energy  ; 
if  any  faculty  of  the  mind  is  disused,  it  will  lose  its 
natural  strength.  It  is  only  when  each  faculty  of  mind 
and  body  is  properly  exercised  that  the  health  and 
vigor  of  the  whole  organism  can  be  maintained.  The 
physiological  cause  of  the  enervating  effects  of  indo- 
lence, and  the  invigorating  consequences  of  exercise,  are 
found  in  those  laws  of  the  human  organism,  whereby 
the  blood  is  increased  in  a  member  by  exercise,  and  de- 
creased by  inertia,  and  a  proportionable  degree  of 
strength  imparted  by  one  and,  subtracted  by  the  other. 
Now,  the  faculties  employed  in  the  process  of  medita- 
tion, comprehend  but  a  small  number  of  the  mental 
powers ;  and  if  they  are  exclusively  exercised,  a  super- 
abundant volume  of  blood  will  be  distributed  to  them, 
and  they  will  absorb  the  aliment  necessary  for  the  sub- 
sistence of  the  others.  The  establishment  of  this  in- 
equality in  the  distribution  of  the  blood  will  derange 
the  harmonious  condition  of  the  cerebral  organs ;  some 
will  be  overcharged,  and  either  inflamed  or  constipated, 
and  others  impoverished  or  enervated.  One  class  of 
the  mental  powers  thus  becoming  over-excited,  another 
class  enfeebled,  and  a  third  paralyzed,  the  ideas  which 
the  mind,  in  this  condition,  is  capable  of  elaborating, 
must  necessarily  be  partial,  defective,  disjointed  and 
grotesque;  resembling  those  nightmares  that  flit  in  our 
sleep,  or  those  monsters  which  are  born  without  limbs, 
and  marked  with  deformity  and  distortion.  But  when 
all  the  moral  faculties  are  properly  employed,  they  will 
all  receive  their  appropriate  nourishment  and  maintain 
their   natural  vigor.     In   consequence  of  a  harmony, 


44  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

equality,  unity  and  reciprocity  of  mental  action,  thus 
induced,  all  tlie  powers  will  be  preserved  in  healthy 
action  —  the  perceptives  in  furnishing  the  mind  with 
knowledge,  memory  in  storing  it  up,  order  in  classify- 
ing it,  analogy  in  comparing  it,  judgment  in  deducing 
conclusions  from  it,  taste  iu  selecting  what  is  most 
appropriate,  fancy  in  adorning  it;  and  all  proceeding 
as  naturally  as  the  vital  organ  elaborates  and  vitalizes 
the  blood,  and  the  reproductive  system  transforms  it 
into  animal  fluids  and  solids. 

But  the  partial  exercise  of  the  mental  faculties,  em- 
braced in  the  act  of  meditation,  not  only  disproportion- 
ately develops  the  cerebral  organs ;  but  deranges  those 
which  it  labors  to  keep  in  incessant  activity.  A  period 
of  rest  after  labor  is  indispensable  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  health  and  vigor  of  the  cerebral  organs.  Exer- 
cise increases  the  flow  of  blood  to  their  parts ;  repose, 
by  inducing  the  process  of  recuperation,  not  only  re- 
stores their  vigor  but  increases  their  healthy  volume. 
The  invigorating  efl'ect  of  sleep  is  derived  from  the 
profound  slumber  into  which  all  the  faculties  are 
calmed,  except  those  whose  functions  are  destined  to 
recuperate  and  vitalize  the  entire  system.  To  labor 
to  keep  the  meditative  faculties  in  constant  action  is  to 
interrupt  the  process  of  recuperation  ;  and,  consequent- 
ly, to  prevent  them  from  becoming  vitalized.  The  man 
who  attempts  to  lift  a  weight  beyond  the  capacity  of  his  - 
muscular  vigor,  may  never  afterward  be  enabled  to 
raise  the  tenth  part  of  what  was  within  his  former 
ability ;  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  whose  powers  of  con- 
templation seemed  almost  superhuman,  after  he  had 
enervated  his  faculties  by  impelling  them  to  constant 


SILENT    CONTEMPLATION.  45 

and  excessive  exercise,  has  furnished  the  -world  with  an 
illustration  of  the  imbecility  it  engendered,  by  his 
works  on  the  prophecies. 

But  the  principle  of  self-preservation  inherent  in  the 
human  mind,  rebels  against  the  destruction  of  its  facul- 
ties. Habitually  to  exercise  the  contemplative  faculties 
on  one  class  of  objects  is  a  superhuman  task.  In  spite 
of  resistance  the  blood  will  pursue  its  natural  course  to 
the  different  organs  of  the  brain,  and  by  virtue  of  this 
fact,  in  conjunction  with  the  natural  condition  of  the 
system,  instinct  will  prompt,  thought  intrude,  emotion 
arise,  appetite  crave,  passion  yearn,  distraction  ensue ; 
and  under  the  external  semblance  of  sanctity,  a  moral 
volcano  will  burn  and  heave.  We  may,  by  means  of 
the  theological  subterfuge  that  the  involuntary  actions 
of  the  cerebral  functions  are  the  suggestion  of  impure 
and  malignant  fiends,  apologize  to  our  conscience  for 
the  intrusion  of  profane  and  worldly  thoughts,  but  this 
device  will  not  exorcise  them.  ^Ye  shall  find  that  in 
the  effort  to  become  automata,  wo  are  men ;  and  that  in 
the  attempt  to  exercise  one  class  of  faculties  and  to  con- 
centrate :  them  perpetually  on  one  class  of  objects,  we 
have  grappled  with  a  giant,  over  whom,  if  we  triumph 
it  will  be  in  our  death-struggle. 

It -is  impossible  to  think  and  feel  by  rule.  Neither 
particular  trains  of  thought,  nor  particular  kinds  of 
emotion  are  at  the  command  of  the  will.  Belief  or 
unbelief,  the  sensations  of  contrition,  of  devotion,  of 
hope,  or  any  other  sentiment  or  feeling  can  no  more 
be  created  by  an  act  of  volition,  than  can  storms  and 
earthquakes.  There  is  a  secret  power  acting  on  the 
nervous   system,  over  which  the  will  has  no  control. 


46  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

The  state  of  the  atmosphere,  the  sanity  of  the  system, 
the  unconscious  power  of  imbibed  principles,  the  recol- 
lections of  the  past,  the  circumstances  of  the  present, 
and  the  prospects  of  the  future,  all  like  unseen  spirits 
stir  the  soul's  depths  with  ideas  and  passions,  always 
involuntary,  and  sometimes  as  abruptly  as  an  electri- 
cal flash.  To  attempt  to  subject  the  laws  by  which 
ideas  and  emotions  are  created  to  the  power  of  the  will, 
so  that  they  may  be  conjured  and  shaped  by  its  mand- 
ates, is  to  war,  not  only  against  the  constitution  of  the 
human  mind,  but  against  the  powers  and  elements  of 
Nature. 


PART     SECOND. 

The  Natural  Effects  of  the  Monastic  Vow  of  Silent  Con- 
templation. 

Let  us  consider  the  character  and  products  of  the  mind 
which  the  monastic  vow  of  silent  contemplation  is  cal- 
culated to  create. 

"When  liberal  education  has  disciplined  the  intellectual 
powers,  and  study  has  enriched  the  mind  with  the  facts 
and  principles  of  science  and  literature,  a  philosopher 
may  find  in  solitude  an  influence  congenial  to  his  high 
pursuits ;  and  with  his  scientific  instruments  enlarging 
his  field  of  vision,  he  may  discover  new  secrets  in  the 
realms  of  Nature,  and  come  forth  from  retirement  a 
more  useful  member  and  a  brighter  ornament  of  society. 
But  if  with  distinguished  abilities,  and  the  valuable 
results  of  an  erudite  industry,  he  should  maintain  per- 
petual silence,  and  continue  for  life  in  a  secluded  abode, 


SILENT  CONTEMPLATION.  47 

he  would  be  of  no  benefit  to  mankind,  and  neither  "win 
nor  deserve  the  homage  which  they  accord  to  scientific 
benefactors. 

But  the  monks  were  very  far  from  being  philoso- 
phers. They  were  in  general  exceedingly  illiterate. 
Some  of  their  orders  actually  interdicted  as  profane  any 
attempt  to  cultivate  the  intellectual  powers,  or  to  ac- 
quire either  scientific  or  literary  information.  Filled 
with  abject  and  obscene  pilgrims,  with  slaves  who  knew 
of  nothing  but  manual  labor,  with  mechanics  whose 
scanty  wages  had  precluded  the  possibility  of  a  rudi- 
mental  education,  with  soldiers  who  had  no  knowledge 
but  that  of  war,  and  who  had  fled  before  the  victorious 
barbarian  into  obscurity  for  safety,  it  could  not  be  ex- 
pected that  the  monasteries  with  such  material,  im- 
prisoned in  solitude,  deprived  of  social  communion, 
enervated  in  mental  capacity,  and  restricted  in  the 
exercise  of  their  intellectual  powers,  could  ever  give 
birth  to  philosophers,  or  to  anything  but  mental  imbe- 
cility and  moral  monstrosities. 

It  has  been  alleged  in  favor  of  monastic  institutions 
that  they  have  originated  and  were  sustained  from  a 
pious  intention  of  affording  the  devout  an  asylum, 
where,  secluded  from  the  distractions  of  life,  and  oc- 
cupied in  silent  contemplation  on  death  and  judgment, 
they  might  fit  themselves  for  the  society  of  God  and  an- 
gels. That  such  a  motive  has  at  times  mingled  with  the 
causes  which  have  induced  individuals  to  assume  the  mo- 
nastic vow,  is  undoubtedly  true;  but  had  it  been  in 
every  instance  the  only  incentive  it  would  not  have 
made  the  act  less  irrational,  unnatural  and  pernicious. 
Such   a  plea,  in  fact,  would  only  prove  that  monastic 


48  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

piety  was  identical  with  Pagan  piety.  Long  before  the 
origin  of  Christianity,  religious  orders  existed  in  India, 
which  sought  by  means  of  the  destruction  of  all  corpore- 
ality and  intellectual  activity,  an  incorporation  with  the 
nature  of  God,  and  the  realization  of  a  state  of  perfect 
happiness. 

But  an  act  may  be  absurd  and  pernicious,  while  its 
motive  is  pure  ;  and  it  is  always  absurd  when  its  objects 
are  imaginary,  and  pernicious  when  they  are  in  viola- 
tion of  the  dictate  of  reason.  The  monastic  vows  and 
regulations  were  ill  calculated  to  make  men  either 
happy,  enlightened,  or  useful.  Encaverned  in  solitude, 
the  monks  could  not  become  extensively  acquainted 
with  the  objects  of  Nature  ;  preserving  perpetual  silence, 
they  could  not  materially  enlarge  each  others'  informa- 
tion ;  exercising  but  one  class  of  the  mental  organs, 
they  could  not  form  the  numerous  order  of  conceptions 
perfected  only  by  the  review  of  all  the  faculties.  Iso- 
lated from  human  contiguity,  walled  up  in  a  dungeon, 
or  incarcerated  in  a  monastic  cell,  the  mind  overtasked 
with  labor,  broken  down  by  fatigue,  prostrated  yet 
urged  to  action,  one  class  of  the  faculties  paralyzed, 
another  inflamed  to  frenzy,  and  all  concentrated  in 
silent  contemplation  on  terrible  and  incomprehensible 
subjects,  partial  or  complete  insanity  would  ensue ;  in- 
congruity would  become  tasteful,  exaggerations  natu- 
ral, impossibilities  credible,  fBhadows  realities,  and 
visions,  fiends,  and  angels  take  possession  of  the  mind. 
The  productions  of  such  a  mind,  being  a  transcript  of  its 
impressions,  would  present  nothing  as  real  or  symmet- 
rical ;  but  everything  as  disfigured,  indistinct,  shadowy, 
inharmoniously  blended,  or  superlatively  gigantic,    Mis- 


SILENT    CONTEMPLATION.  49. 

Bhapen  dwarfs,  huge  giants,  beings  that  were  neither 
men,  nor  beasts,  nor  birds,  nor  fishes,  nor  angels,  nor 
demons,  but  an  incongruous  mixture  of  them  all, 
would  be  its  natural  offspring.  Men  with  birds'  wings, 
beasts  with  human  heads,  women  w^ith  fishes'  scales,  and 
animals  variously  compounded  of  the  limbs,  claws,  and 
beaks,  all  in  violation  of  the  natural  order  of  Nature, 
and  incompatible  with  the  laws  of  life,  would  spring 
in  horrible  profusion  from  the  distorted  imagination  of 
the  monks. 

All  ideas  of  proportion,  adaptation  and  utility  would 
be  transgressed  in  their  creations.  They  might  regale 
credulity  with  an  account  of  cities  fifteen  hundred  miles 
high,  with  asses  reproving  prophets,  with  snakes  con- 
versing with  women,  with  immaterial  beings  fluttering 
on  ponderable  pinions,  and  with  angels  whose  heads 
reached  the  stars,  but  whose  forms  were  so  hugely  dispro- 
portioned,  that  while  one  foot  rested  on  an  insignificant 
portion  of  the  isle  of  Patmos,  the  other  would  rest  on  a 
like  portion  of  the  Mediterranean  sea.  The  scenery, 
caught  from  the  gloom  of  forests,  caves  or  cloisters, 
would  naturally  wear  an  infernal  aspect,  where 
there  would  be  shape,  but  no  symmetry ;  color  but 
no  contrast  nor  harmony ;  where  immaterial  beings 
would  be  represented  as  tormented  with  the  flames  and 
suffocating  effects  of  liquid  brimstone ;  where  they 
would  shriek  and  groan  without  vocal  organs,  war  and 
wound  with  material  swords,  and  where  corjDoreality  and 
incorporeality  would  be  compounded  in  every  variety 
and  degree  of  inconsistency.  If  in  the  intervals  of  the 
monk's  gloomy  ravings  he  should  attempt  a  more 
cheerful  picture,  the  scene  which  he  would  probably 


50  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

portray  miglit  glitter  with,  gold  and  gems  AvHere  they 
would  be  of  no  service ;  but  it  would  be  pervaded  by 
an  awfulness  whicli  vs^ould  be  depressing,  and  by  a 
splendor  wbicli  would  be  terrifying.  The  music  might 
be  loud  enough  to  shake  Nature  to  its  foundation,  but 
it  would  naturally  be  monotonous,  perhaps  consisting  of 
one  tone  and  one  song,  eternally  sung  by  beings  without 
throats,  assisted  by  the  trumpets  and  harps  invented 
by  mortals ;  and  had  pianos,  fiddles  and  accordians 
been  early  enough  invented,  they  too,  would  probably 
have  chimed  in  the  grand  chorus.  Beside  the  music  of 
the  operatic  troupe,  the  other  recreations  would  prob- 
ably be  so  incompatible  with  the  principles  of  human 
enjoyment,  and  make  the  monk's  very  heaven  so  awfully 
repulsive,  that  common  sense  would  prudently  shrink 
from  partaking  of  its  glory.  Thus  the  conceptions  of 
virtue  and  of  vice,  of  perfect  happiness  and  of  perfect 
misery,  of  metaphysical  and  of  theological  dogmas, 
formed  by  the  distempered  brains  of  hermits  and 
monks,  while  they  might  be  awfully  effulgent  or  in- 
supportably  horrible,  would  be  conflicting  in  their  parts, 
inconsistent  with  pure  ideas  of  men,  of  phantoms,  or 
of  things ;  and  such  a  strange  commingling  of  incon- 
gruities as  might  remind  reflections  of  the  huts  and 
palaces  of  Christian  Eome,  which  are  constructed  of  the 
tombs,  alters,  temples  and  palaces  of  Pagan  Rome. 

What  reason  would  naturally  deduce  from  the  char- 
acter of  the  monastic  vows  and  rules,  is  amply  con- 
firmed by  the  facts  of  history.  Housed  with  silent, 
ignorant  and  gloomy  companions,  the  monks  con- 
templated not  the  realities  of  truth,  but  the  fictions  of  a 
distempered  fancy  ;  and  while  they  scorned  the  first  as 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  51 

profane,  they  trembled  before  the  second  as  a  dread 
reality.  Conceiving  the  deity  as  a  monarch,  they 
thought  of  him  as  a  tyrant ;  and  believing  their  nature 
depraved,  they  punished  themselves  as  criminals.  As 
they  imagined  freedom  of  thought  sinful,  they  acquired 
the  temper  of  a  slave ;  and  as  they  were  incapable  of 
reasoning  themselves,  they  accepted  as  truth  whatever 
their  ecclesiastical  tyrants  dictated.  Impressed  with  the 
fancy  that  demons  had  taken  possession  of  their  bodies, 
they  attempted  to  dislodge  them  by  making  their 
abode  as  uncomfortable  as  possible. 

After  having  manacled  their  limbs  with  the  heaviest 
chains,  and  lacerated  their  bodies  in  the  most  horrible 
manner,  they  were  surprised  at  finding  that  they  had 
not  yet  destroyed  their  constitutional  principles  and 
appetites ;  and  regarding  themselves  still  as  objects  of 
divine  wrath,  they  trembled  as  if  a  fiery  and  bottom- 
less pit  yawned  at  their  feet.  "While  they  labored  by 
monastic  rules  and  exercises  to  fit  themselves  for  the 
society  of  God  and  angels,  they  rendered  themselves 
unfit  for  the  society  of  human  beings.  The  percep- 
tive powers  uninformed,  and  inflamed  by  disease, 
furnishing  nothing  but  extravagant  and  perverted 
ideas,  and  the  fancy  combining  them  only  into  mon- 
strous and  hideous  shapes,  the  mind  became  perpetually 
filled  with  the  most  horrible  images.  The  superabund- 
ant volume  of  blood  consequent  on  overwrought  excite- 
ment, distending  the  blood  vessels  of  the  visual  and 
auditory  organs,  and  causing  them  unnaturally  to 
press  against  these  organs,  gave  a  vivid  distinctness 
to  the  impressions,  and  so  brought  out  the  mental 
perspective    as    to    give    the      complexion     and     dis- 


52  MONASTIC   VOW    OP 

tinctness  of  reality.  In  consequence  of  the  condi- 
tion of  mind  thus  induced,  the  sights  and  sounds  con- 
ceived by  fancy  were  recognized  as  real  by  the  per- 
ceptive organs.  The  senses  thus  recognizing  visions  as 
realities,  the  life  of  the  recluse  was  doomed  to  become 
an  incessant  struggle,  not  only  with  real  disease,  but 
with  imaginary  demons.  Less  refined  in  their  myth- 
ology than  the  Pagans,  w^ho  regarded  the  earth,  air  and 
water  as  peopled  with  genii,  naiads  and  fairies,  they 
conceived  them  inhabited  by  malignant  fiends. 

The  monks  often  fancied  that  they  saw  the  misshapen 
forms  of  demons,  and  heard  their  diabolical  whispers. 
Too  illiterate  or  obtuse  to  account  for  natural  phenomena, 
they  supposed  that  they  had  a  hand  in  regulating  the 
operations  of  Nature ;  and,  too  unacquainted  with  the 
habits  of  the  brute  creation  to  understand  their  me- 
chanical capacity,  they  regarded  the  contrivances  of 
animals  as  the  undoubted  fruit  of  a  nocturnal  adven- 
ture of  the  infernal  inhabitants.  They  often  conceived 
that  they  saw  His  Satanic  Majesty,  with  all  his  distin- 
guishing appendages,  such  as  his  cloven  foot,  his  sooty 
aspect,  his  peculiar  horns,  and  sulphurous  odor.  Al- 
though his  visitations  were  most  formidable  in  the  shape 
of  a  woman,  yet  they  frequently  had  the  uncommon 
fortitude  of  sustaining  long  conversations  with  him. 

The  more  jjious  a  monk  was,  the  more  frequently  he 
was  honored  with  the  company  of  demons.  This  fact 
is  not  surprising,  for  it  is  certain  that  the  more  success- 
fully he  warred  against  nature  and  himself,  the  more 
diseased  would  become  his  brain,  the  more  extrava- 
gant his  conceptions,  the  more  discordant  his  imagina- 
tion, the  more  susceptible  his  senses  to  false  impresions, 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  53 

the  more  frequent  and  terrible  would  apparitions  ap- 
pear, and  the  better  he  would  be  suited  for  the  com- 
pany of  fiends  and  spirits.  If  in  the  vigorous  and 
wholesome  bustle  of  life,  the  visual  oigans  may  recog- 
nize images  which  have  no  real  existence,  the  auditory, 
sounds  which  are  imaginary,  and  the  olfactory,  odors 
which  are  the  mere  products  of  fancy,  how  much  more 
vividly  would  analogous  deceptions  be  likely  to  occur 
in  the  minds  of  monks  and  anchorites,  whose  condi- 
tion was  replete  with  causes  calculated  to  create  them. 
Such  was  the  melancholy  condition  of  those  monks  who, 
aspiring  after  superhuman  sanctification,  had  with  sin- 
cerity of  purpose  assumed  the  monastic  obligation. 
But  there  were  others  who,  more  ambitious  of  fame 
than  of  internal  purity,  had  assumed  the  same  obliga- 
tions. Professedly  despising  pleasure  and  fortune,  but 
secretly  laboring  to  acquire  their  possession,  they 
manufactured  with  more  facility  diabolical  apparitions, 
than  those  whichs  pontaneously  psrang  from  the  over- 
wrought brain  of  the  sincere. 

Sanctification  having  become  the  passport  to 
worldly  honors,  and  its  degree  orthodoxly  estimated 
by  the  degrees  of  personal  familiarity  with  the  Devil, 
the  aspiring  were  too  frail  to  resist  the  temptation  of 
increasing  their  celebrity  by  multiplying  the  number  of 
Satanic  visits  ;  and  as  they  could  draw  on  an  inexhaust- 
ible mine  of  conscienceless  inventions,  and  deliberately 
adorn  them  with  the  terrific  and  interesting  incidents  of 
romance,  they  far  outstripped  the  reputation  of  the 
sincere,  and  with  greater  facility  obtained  the  emolu- 
ments of  ecclesiastical  sinecures.  The  sense  of  touch  not 
being  equally  susceptible  of  false  impressions  with  the 


54  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

otlier  senses,  while  the  sincere  might  see  demons  and 
hear  their  voices,  they  could  not  so  well  recognize  them 
by  means  of  contact.  But  the  hypocritical,  untram- 
meled  by  this  limitation,  would  create  by  their  invent- 
ive faculties  any  number  of  personal  encounters  and 
terrific  battles  with  the  armies  of  the  infernal  regions. 

Although  the  monks  sometimes  relate  how  com- 
pletely they  vanquished  the  Devil  by  their  elo- 
quence and  the  ingenuity  of  their  arguments,  yet  they 
oftener  tell  how  valorously  they  triumphed  over  him 
after  a  desperate  struggle  with  his  superhuman  strength; 
and  not  seldom,  how  alone  and  single-handed  they  en- 
countered him  in  command  of  a  battalion  of  fiends,  in- 
flicting on  the  spiritual  bodies  of  the  demons  such  deep 
gashes,  and  cutting  up  their  impalpable  substances  in 
such  a  horrible  manner  that,  wounded,  bleeding  and  de- 
moralized, they  retreated  in.  wild  disorder.  As  the 
monkish  cell,  like  the  human  brain,  could  accomodate 
any  number  of  devils,  it  was  as  convenient  a  hall  of 
audience  in  which  to  receive  His  Satanic  Majesty,  as  it 
was  an  area  for  the  scientific  manoeuvering  of  his  le- 
gions. The  crown  of  sanctification  being  awarded  to 
the  most  unscrupulous  inventor  of  pious  ficitons,  a  hy- 
pocrite was  encouraged  to  labor  to  outrival  the  fame  of 
an  antagonist  by  the  boldness  of  his  assertions,  the  ex- 
travagance of  his  fables,  and  the  incredibleness  of  his 
fabrications.  Under  such  circumstances  we  are  not 
astonished  to  find  that  some  claimed  to  have  obtained  a 
perfection  in  holiness  that  enabled  them  to  see  the 
Devil  anywhere,  and  to  look  upon  hell  at  any  time. 

Even  at  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  the  popular 
belief  recognized  the  Devil  and  his  imps  as  often  vis- 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  55 

ible.  Martin  Luther,  while  engaged  in  translating  the 
Bible,  conceived  that  he  saw  the  Devil  enter  his  study, 
for  the  purpose  of  embarrassing  him  in  the  execution  of 
his  useful  design.  Annoyed  at  this  unceremonious  and 
impertinent  intrusion,  he  threw  at  His  Satanic  Majesty 
an  inkstand,  which,  passing  through  the  dusky  form 
and  striking  the  wall  beyond,  left  a  stain  which  is  vis- 
ible to  this  day. 


PART     THIRD. 

The  Ignorance  and  Corruption  induced  hy  the  Monastic 
Vow  of  Silent  Contemplation. 

The  profound  homage  won  by  the  monks  from  igno- 
rance and  superstition,  gave  such  credit  to  their  extrav- 
agant productions,  that  history  has  sometimes  been  led 
into  the  error  of  recording  them  as  real  events ;  and 
the  craft  or  credulity  of  the  church  in  incorporating 
them  in  her  devotional  books  has  so  deepened  and  per- 
petuated reverence  for  them,  that,  even  at  the  present 
day,  they  continue  still  to  govern  in  a  measure  the 
superstition,  and  to  contaminate  the  creed  and  ritual  of 
reformed  churches. 

It  has  been  alleged,  wuth  apparent  plausibility,  in 
favor  of  monastic  institutions,  that  they  were  during 
the  middle  ages  the  protectors  of  learning.  But,  un- 
fortunately, this  noble  virtue  can  be  justly  claimed  for 
only  a  few  of  them  ;  and  for  that  few  in  but  a  limited 
sense.     Some  of  the  inmates  being  unfit  for  more  remu- 


56  MONASTIC    VOW    OP 

nerative  employment  were  subjected  to  the  drudgery  of 
copying  manuscript ;  sometimes  the  task  w^as  imposed 
on  others  as  a  penance.  The  aged  and  infirm  of  the 
Benedictine  monks  were  thus  employed ;  and,  as  the 
multiplication  of  manuscripts  is  the  most  efficient  mode 
of  preserving  what  is  written  on  the  perishable  mate- 
rial of  paper  and  parchment,  these  monks  have  con- 
tributed to  the  preservation  of  learning.  But  invetr 
erate  prejudice,  obstinate  bigotry,  gross  ignorance,  and 
abject  servitude  Avere  ill  qualified  to  render  correct 
versions,  while  they  were  well  adapted  to  the  perpetra- 
tion of  fraud  and  corruption.  Transcribing  manu- 
scripts, not  to  produce  accurate  copies,  but  to  consume 
time  or  do  penance,  and  governed  by  the  misleading 
principles  of  their  order,  it  is  not  as  likely  that  the 
monks  would  furnish  authentic  and  reliable  transcripts, 
as  that  they  w^ould  mar  them  wdth  errors,  embellish 
them  with  fancies,  and  interpolate  them  with  forgeries 
and  wilful  corruptions. 

"While  such  was  the  literary  honesty  of  the  religious 
orders,  and  such  likely  to  be  the  character  of  their 
manuscripts,  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  age 
favored  rather  than  obstructed  the  perpetration  of  any 
pious  fraud  they  might  contemplate.  A  few  facts  will 
illustrate  the  incredible  ignorance  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  during  the  dark  ages.  A  Jew,  converted  to 
Christianity' but  not  to  truth,  having  persuaded  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  that  the  Hebrew  w^orks,  the  Old 
Testament  excepted,  were  all  of  pernicious  tendency, 
the  latter,  at  the  horrible  revelatation,  ordered  them  to 
to  be  burnt.  The  learned  Eeuchlen  earnestly  remon- 
strated against  the  imperial  decree,  and  succeeded  ia 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  67 

having  its  execution  postponed  until  the  matter  of  the 
allegation  could  be  critically  examined.  A  controversy 
of  ten  years  ensued.  So  grossly  ignorant  were  the 
clergy  that  not  one  of  them  with  whom  Reuchlen  de- 
bated had  ever  seen  a  Greek  Testament,  and  as  for  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  they  denounced  its  alphabetical  char- 
acters as  the  diabolical  invention  of  some  profane 
sorcerer.  So  obstinate  was  their  opposition  to  Hebrew 
literature  that  they  declared  their  readiness  to  support 
their  cause  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  Neither  the  Pope 
nor  the  cardinals  having  sufficient  learning  to  decide  on 
the  merits  of  the  question,  the  former  was  induced  to 
appoint  as  umpire  the  archbishop  of  Spires,  whose  de- 
cision happily  rescued  oriental  literature  from  the 
flames  of  the  stake.  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  whose  literary 
attainments  were  superior  to  those  of  the  clergy  of  his 
age,  was  regarded  as  a  magician  who  held  unhallowed 
converse  with  infernal  demons.  St.  Augustin,  who  was 
ignorant  of  the  Greek  tongue,  and  whose  learning  was 
sufficiently  superficial  to  prepare  him  for  canonization, 
pronounced  the  doctrine  of  the  antipodes  a  blasphemous 
heresy ;  and  Pope  Zachariah  degraded  a  friar  for  in- 
dorsing it,  and  excommunicated  all  Catholics  who  should 
believe  it.  The  patriarch  Cyrille  declared  that  neither 
he,  nor  the  Vandal  clergy,  nor  the  African  clergy  un- 
derstood the  Latin  language.  St.  Hilary  asserts  from 
his  personal  knowledge  that  but  few  of  the  prelates  in 
the  ten  provinces  of  Asia  preserved  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  god.  {Hilar,  de  Synodis.  c.  63,  p.  1186). 
It  might  reasonably  be  supposed  that  the  ecclesiastical 
councils,  composed  of  the  most  influential  bishops, 
priests   and   abbots,   would    comprehend   among   their 


58  MONASTIC   YOW   OF 

members  many  distinguished  scholars,  yet  according  to 
the  authority  of  Pope  Gregory  II.,  the  councils  at  his 
time  were  composed  of  men,  not  only  ignorant  of  letters, 
but  of  the  scriptures.  According  to  the  testimony  of 
Sabinus,  bishop  of  Heraclea,  the  Nicene  bishops  were 
"a  set  of  illiterate,  simple  creatures  that  understood 
nothing,"  and  Cassian  charges  the  Egyptian  monks  of 
having  ignorantly  preached  Epicurean  Paganism  as  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Among  the  crowd  of  slaves,  soldiers, 
lords  and  priests  that  thronged  the  convents,  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  the  sign  of  ignorance,  was  a  general  mode 
of  executing  contracts,  as  all  could  make  it,  though  few 
could  write  their  names. 

That  the  literary  progress  of  the  church  has  not  kept 
pace  with  the  progress  of  the  world,  will  be  attested  by 
a  few  extracts  from  a  work  written  by  William  Hogan, 
formerly  a  Catholic  priest  of  Philadelphia,  comprising 
an  essay  entitled,  "  A  Synopsis  of  Popery,  as  it  was  and 
as  it  is,"  and  another  entitled,  "  Auricular  Confession 
and  Popish  Nunneries,"  published  at  Hartford,  by  Silas 
Andrew  and  Son,  in  1850  —  a  work  that  may  be  profit- 
ably consulted  by  parents  who  educate  their  daughters 
at  nunnery  schools,  and  by  gentlemen  who  contemplate 
forming  matrimonial  alliances  with  ladies  who  have 
been  accomplished  at  such  institutions.  Speaking  of 
the  ecclesiastical  canons  the  author  says  :  "  These 
canons  are  inaccessible  to  the  majority  of  the  American 
people,  even  of  theologians,  and  with  the  purport  or 
meaning  of  them  none  but  those  who  have  been  edu- 
cated Catholic  priests  have  much  or  any  acquaintance. 
He  who  argues  with  Catholic  priests  must  have  had  his 
education   with  them,   he  must  be  of  them  and  from 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  59 

among  tliem.  He  must  know  from  experience  that 
they  will  stop  at  no  falsehood  where  the  good  of  the 
church  is  concerned ;  he  must  know  that  they  will 
scruple  at  no  forgery  ivhen  they  desire  to  establish  any 
point  of  doctrine,  fundamentally  or  not  fundamentally, 
which  is  not  taught  by  the  church  ;  he  must  be  aware 
that  it  is  a  standing  rule  with  the  Popish  priests,  in  all 
their  controversies  with  Protestants,  to  admit  nothing 
and  deny  everything,  and  that  if  still  driven  into  diffi- 
culty they  will  have  recourse  to  the  archives  of  the 
church,  where  they  keep  piles  of  decretals,  canons,  re- 
ceipts, bulls,  excommunications  and  interdicts,  ready 
for  all  such  emergencies,  some  of  them  dated  from  300 
to  1000  years  before  they  were  written  or  thought  of, 
showing  more  clearly  than  perhaps  anything  else  the 
extreme  ignorance  of  mankind  between  the  third  and 
ninth  century,  when  these  forgeries  were  palmed  on  the 
world."  {Synopsis,  p.  9,  10).  Again,  he  observes: 
"  The  majority  of  Catholics  in  this  country  know  no- 
thing of  the  religion  which  they  profess,  and  for  which 
they  are  willing  to  fight,  contend,  and  shed  the  blood  of 
their  fellow  beings.  I  am  not  even  hazarding  an  asser- 
tion when  I  say  there  is  not  one  of  them  that  has  read 
the  gospel  through,  or  that  knows  any  more  about  the 
religion  he  professes  than  he  does  about  the  Koran  of 
Mohammed.  He  Is  told  by  the  priest  that  Christ  estab- 
lished a  church  on  earth ;  that  it  is  infallible,  and  that 
he  must  submit  implicitly  to  what  its  popes,  priests  and 
bishops  teach,  under  pain  of  '  damnation/  This  is  all 
the  great  mass  of  Catholics  know  of  religion  ;  this  is  all 
they  are  required  to  learn  ;  and  hence  it  is  that  these 
people  are  unacquainted   with  the  pretensions  of  the 


60  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

Pope,  the  intrigues  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  imposition 
practised  on  them  by  their  bishops  and  priests."  (Si;- 
nopsis,  p.  29).  Speaking  of  the  theological  education 
of  the  priests,  he  says :  "  During  the  four  years  I  spent 
in  the  college  of  Maynooth,  they  (the  scriptures) 
formed  no  portion  of  the  education  of  the  students.  It 
is  my  firm  conviction,  that  out  of  the  large  number  of 
students  there  for  the  ministry,  there  was  not  one  who 
read  the  gospels  through,  nor  even  portions  of  them, 
except  such  as  are  found  in  detached  passages,  in  works 
of  controversy  between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  Un- 
til I  went  to  college  I  scarcely  ever  heard  of  a  Bible. 
I  know  not  of  one  in  any  parish  of  Munster,  except  it 
may  be  a  Latin  one,  which  each  priest  may  or  may  not 
have,  as  he  pleases.  But  I  studied  closely  the  holy 
fathers  of  the  church  ;  so  did  most  of  the  students. 
Wc  were  taught  to  rely  upon  them  as  our  sole  guide  in 
morals,  and  the  only  correct  interpreters  of  the  Bible. 
A  right  of  private  judgment  was  entirely  denied  us, 
and  represented  as  the  source  of  multifarious  errors. 
The  Bible,  in  fact,  we  had  no  veneration  for.  It  was, 
in  truth,  but  a  dead  letter  in  the  college  ;  it  was  a 
'sealed  book  to  us,  though  there  were  not  an  equal  num- 
ber of  students  who  were  obliged  to  study  more  closely 
the  sayings,  the  sophistry,  the  metaphysics  and  mystic 
doctrines  of  those  raving  dreamers  called  holy  fathers; 
many  of  whom,  if  now  living  would  be  deemed  mad, 
and  dealt  with  accordingly."  (Au7'ic.  Confess.,  vol.  1, 
p.  79,  80). 

But  to  return  to  the  consideration  of  the  monks. 
The  pen  of  transcribers,  so  generally  ignorant,  and  so 
grossly  superstitious,  could  not  render  authentic  manu- 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  61 

scripts  even  when  actuated  by  the  best  intention ;  and 
when  w^e  recollect  that  the  task  which  required  the 
exercise  of  an  enlightened  and  vigorous  intellect  was 
devolved  on  the  most  diseased  and  infirm  of  the  re- 
ligious orders,  the  impossibility  of  its  effectual  perform- 
ance will  appear  without  a  doubt.  As  ignorance  could 
not  transcribe  masterly,  so  superstition  would  pervert 
intentionally.  Conscience  paralyzed  by  bigotry,  and 
the  love  of  truth  supplanted  by  a  careful  regard  to  the 
interests  of  the  church,  the  copyists  would  esteem  it  a 
Christian  duty  to  omit  such  parts  of  a  manuscript  as 
militated  against  the  truth  of  their  religion  ;  to  corrupt 
such  parts  as  might  by  perversion  be  made  to  adminis- 
ter to  its  support ;  and  to  interpolate  such  parts 
with  occurrences  and  apparent  incidental  allusions  to 
events,  the  omission  of  which  was  fatal  to  its  cred- 
ibility ;  and  thus  by  a  system  of  typographical  frauds, 
deliberate  falsehoods  and  artful  perversions,  contrive  to 
make  it  appear  that  all  Jewish  and  Pagan  literature 
concurred  in  establishing  Catholicism. 

The  classics,  unlike  the  canonical  scriptures,  have 
been  subjected  to  the  purifying  process  of  rigid  criti- 
cism, and  the  monkish  corruptions  which  once  perverted 
the  meaning,  are  in  a  great  measure  eradicated  from 
modern  editions.  Had  the  New  Testament  been  sub- 
jected to  a  similar  ordeal,  such  for  instance  as  the 
learned  Strauss,  in  his  Life  of  Christ,  instituted.  In- 
fidels might  have  fewer  objections  to  the  gospels,  and 
the  credit  of  these  sacred  books  be  far  better  sustained 
than  it  has  been  by  voluminous  commentaries,  declama- 
tory sermons  and  conflicting  polemical  works,  defending 
the  grossest  frauds  and  the  boldest  interpolations. 
6 


62  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

Tlie  bigotry  or  fear  of  the  church,  which  induced  it 
to  corrupt  the  works  of  ancient  authors,  led  it  also  to 
wage  an  exterminating  war  against  those  profane 
productions  which  it  could  not  satisfactorily  answer. 
For  this  purpose  the  secular  power  was  invoked,  and 
laws  were  framed  prescribing  the  severest  penalty  for 
those  who  should  read  or  possess  a  Pagan  production. 
The  persecution  against  philosophers  and  their  libraries 
was  carried  on  with  such  pious  insanity  that  besides  its 
causing  piles  of  manuscripts  to  be  destroyed,  men  of 
letters  burned  their  elegant  libraries,  lest  some  vol- 
ume contained  in  them  should  jeopardize  their  lives. 
Young  Chrysostom,  happening  once  to  find  a  proscribed 
volume,  gave  himself  up  for  lost.  St.  Jerome,  in  order 
to  deter  his  readers  from  perusing  any  of  the  heathen 
authors,  declared  he  had  been  scourged  by  an  angel  for 
reading  the  productions  of  Virgil.  The  Orthodox  Theo- 
dosius,  in  the  destruction  of  the  Alexandrian  library, 
consigned  to  the  flames  the  literary  treasures  of  an- 
tiquity. The  bare  thought  of  the  existence  of  works 
which  baffled  the  talent  and  learning  of  the  church  to 
refute,  irritated  the  sensitive  piety  of  the  monks  beyond 
endurance.  They  pursued  the  masterly  productions  of 
Celsus  and  Porphery  with  an  unscrupulousness  which 
seemed  to  indicate  that  the  annihilation  of  them  was  in- 
dispensable to  the  existence  of  Christianity.  After 
malice  had  ferreted  every  crevice  where  a  proscribed 
volume  could  be  secreted,  and  vengence  had  not  left  a 
vestige  of  any  of  them  remaining,  except  what  was 
quoted  or  perverted  in  the  works  of  Christian  apolo- 
gists, the  Church  boasted  that  God  had  not  left  a  work 
of  hostile  literature  in  existence.     With  not  less  bias- 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  63 

phemy  and  bigotry  lias  tlie  same  absurdity  been  echoed 
by  dishonest,  ignorant  theologians  of  all  ages.  So  wide 
and  unsparing  was  the  monkish  war  against  classic  lit- 
erature, that  it  has  left  no  work  in  existence  belonging 
to  the  period  of  Christ ;  and  hence  where  knowledge  is 
the  most  needed  the  historian  finds  the  least ;  and  where 
the  facts  might  be  expected  to  be  the  most  abundant 
and  of  the  clearest  description,  the  wildest  and  most 
ridiculous  fancies  are  presented.  The  necessity  for  this 
destruction  proves  the  power  of  the  works  destroyed, 
and  the  alarm  and  weakness  of  the  faith  that  destroyed 
them. 

Beside  the  destructive  hostility  of  the  monks  to  the 
formidable  literary  obstacles  which  embarrassed  the 
vindication  of  their  theological  subtleties,  their  zeal  led 
them  to  perpetrate  the  grossest  forgeries  in  order  to 
manufacture  historical  data  in  their  favor.  Prominent 
among  the  numerous  instances  of  this  disregard  to  truth, 
are  the  following  passages  conceded  by  all  scholars  to 
be  entire  fabrications.  The  passage  in  the  works  of 
Phlegon,  in  which  he  is  made  to  speak  of  a  total  eclipse 
of  the  sun  and  a  simultaneous  earthquake  ;  a  passage  in 
Macrobius,  which  represents  the  author  as  incidentally 
referring  to  the  death  of  a  son  of  his  as  having  occurred 
in  consequence  of  a  jealous  order  issued  by  Herod  for 
the  massacre  of  a.11  children  under  two  years  old ;  the 
Epistle  of  Lentulus,  prefect  of  Judsea  at  the  time  of 
Christ,  who  is  represented  as  describing  the  person  and 
character  of  Christ,  in  a  governmental  despatch,  which 
according  to  prefectorial  custom  was  encumbent  on  him, 
in  transmitting  to  Pome  a  report  of  all  important 
events  occurring  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction ; 


64  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

the  legend  of  the  Veronica  handkerchief  in  which  it  is 
related  how  Abgarus,  king  of  Edessa,  sent  ambassadors 
to  Christ  to  solicit  the  favor  of  his  portrait,  and  how 
wiping  his  face  with  a  handkerchief,  and  thereby  im- 
pressing his  features  on  it,  politely  accommodated  the 
legation  ;  the  Epistle  of  Pontius  Pilate  to  the  Emperor 
Tiberius,  in  which  he  is  made  to  relate  the  alleged  cir- 
cumstances of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ ;  the 
fabulous  inscriptions  on  two  fabulous  columns,  said  to 
be  situo.ted  near  Tangiers,  relating  to  a  robber  called 
Joshua,  son  of  Nun  ;  and  all  the  passages  found  in  Jo- 
sephus  in  reference  to  Christ. 

Origen,  who  wrote  in  the  second  century,  complains 
that  his  own  works  had  been  altered  ;  and  the  practice  of 
this  base  species  of  dishonesty  seems  to  have  fearfully 
increased  with  the  growth  of  the  Church.  The  monk 
Jerome,  in  the  fourth  century,  finding  the  versions  of 
the  scriptures  which  were  received  by  the  churches  as 
authentic  exceedingly  conflicting,  undertook  to  abate  the 
scandal  it  caused,  by  compiling  a  Bible  with  genuine 
text.  The  product  of  this  laborious  exertion  was,  how- 
ever, so  unsatisfactory  to  the  theological  tastes  of  the 
churches,  or  to  the  results  of  their  critical  examinations, 
that  but  few  of  them  adopted  it.  Although  Jerome's 
labors  were  but  imperfectly  appreciated  during  his  life, 
yet,  as  he  had  materially  approximated  toward  furnish- 
ing a  catholic  desideratum,  the  Vulgate,  which  is  a 
modification  of  his  Bible,  was  declared  by  the  Council 
of  Trent,  in  1546,  to  be  "  authentic  in  all  lectures,  dis- 
putations, sermons  and  expositions,  and  no  one  shall 
presume  to  reject  it  under  any  pretence  whatever." 
But  in  attempting  to  execute  this  decrts^,  the  startling 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  65 

fact  became  evident  that  the  copies  of  the  Vulgate,  in 
consequence  of  the  liberty  which  translators  had  taken 
with  the  text,  essentially  differed  from  one  another ; 
that  each  church  believed  in  a  different  Bible  ;  that  it 
\vas  impossible  to  determine  which  divine  book  was 
the  least  corrupted ;  and  that  as  the  Council,  inspired 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  had  forgotten  to  designate  which 
copy  of  the  Vulgate  was  the  genuine  one,  it  only  in- 
creased the  confusion  it  had  attempted  to  remedy.  If 
disbelief  in  the  Bible  is  infidelity,  the  greater  number 
of  the  churches  were  actually  in  a  situation  which  made 
them  unconscious  infidel  conclaves.  To  relieve  them 
from  this  perilous  predicament,  the  Pope  appointed  a 
learned  committee  to  prepare  a  Bible  which  should  have 
genuine  text.  But  the  Bible  elaborated  by  this  com- 
mittee, not  according  with  the  Pope's  theological 
fancies  or  secret  designs,  was  rejected.  Pope  Pius  IV. 
next  tried  his  hand  at  perfecting  and  correcting  the 
scriptural  text ;  but  the  task  exceeding  his  learning  and 
ingenuity,  his  efforts  were  alike  unproductive  of  satisfac- 
tory results.  He  was  followed  by  Pope  Pius  V.,  who  also 
labored  in  vain.  In  1590  Pope  Sixtus  V.  made  a  Bible 
which  his  judgment  or  prejudice  pronounced  to  be  au- 
thentic. Determined  that  Christendom  should  be  re- 
duced to  the  alternative  of  accepting  his  version,  or 
having  none,  he  anathematized  all  who  should  alter  its 
text  or  reject  his  authority.  But  Pope  Clement  VIII., 
not  having  the  fear  of  his  infallible  predecessor's  anath- 
ema before  his  eyes,  made  another  Bible,  and  promul- 
gated it  from  his  throne  as  genuine  and  authoritative, 
amid  a  heavy  storm  of  Vatican  thunder,  in  which  he 
consigned  to  the  care  of  the  Devil  and  his  angels  all 
6* 


66  MONASTIC   VOW    OF 

wlio  should  presume  to  correct  the  work  of  his  infallible 
hands.  A  year  had,  however,  scarcely  elapsed  when  he 
was  obliged  to  correct  its  glaring  inconsistencies  him- 
self ;  incurring  the  vengeance  of  his  own  anathemas. 
Notwithstanding  an  incessant  tinkering  for  ages  by  the 
ablest  theologians,  to  mend  the  numerous  flaws  in  the 
Catholic  word  of  God,  every  well-informed  Eomanist 
admits,  that  while  all  the  previously  received  versions 
of  the  Vulgate  are  too  grossly  corrupted  to  be  defended, 
the  one  in  present  use  is  far  from  being  perfect.  Cardi- 
nal Bellarmine,  who  was  deeply  versed  in  Biblical  erudi- 
tion, and  who  in  life  had  obtained  such  an  eminent  degree 
of  popularity  for  sanctity,  that  when  he  died  a  guard  had 
to  be  placed  over  his  corpse,  to  prevent  the  devout  from 
robbing  it  of  its  garments  —  who  wished  to  preserve  or 
vend  them  as  relics  —  declares  that  the  most  that  can  be 
said  in  favor  of  the  received  version  is,  that  it  is  the 
best  that  has  been  made. 

The  authorized  English  version  of  the  holy  scrip- 
tures, known  as  James'  Bible,  is  the  product  of  forty- 
seven  celebrated  Biblical  scholars,  after  three  years' 
labor.  The  manuscripts  from  which  they  made  their 
translations  being  exceedingly  corrupted  and  discordant, 
the  renderings  consequently  were  so  conflicting  and 
irreconcilable  on  any  principle  of  philological  or  exe- 
getical  criticism,  that  in  order  to  efi'ect  any  agreement, 
and  prevent  the  production  of  as  many  Bibles  as  there 
were  translators,  they  put  the  question  concerning  a 
disagreement  to  vote,  and  decided  which  was  the  cor- 
rect rendering  by  the  authority  of  a  majority  of  suf- 
frages. But  this  logic  was  not  appreciated  by  Dr.  Smith 
and  Bishop  Belson,  to  whose  joint  scrutiny  the  Bible 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  67 

tHus  manufactured  was  afterwards  submitted,  and  they 
accordingly  subjected  it  to  a  further  process  of  purifica- 
tion, 

W  hile  philological  criticism,  and  investigations  con- 
cerning the  genuineness  of  the  sacred  text,  have  wrung 
from  Catholics  the  reluctant  concession  that  the  Vul- 
gate needs  a  revision,  they  have  equally  extorted  from 
Protestants  the  unwilling  admission  that  their  version 
is  corrupted  with  undoubted  forgeries.  The  doxology 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  the  story  of  the 
pool  of  Bethsaida,  the  story  of  the  rich  man  and  Laz- 
arus, and  the  story  of  the  adulteress,  are  universally 
conceded  by  scholars  to  bo  wilful  fabrications.  The 
most  distinguished  among  Biblical  scholars  go  further, 
Bretschneider,  the  friend  and  confident  of  Joseph  IL  of 
Austria,  rejects  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  Dr.  Lardner 
rejects  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Epistle  of  St. 
James,  the  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  the  Second 
Epistle  of  St.  John,  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude,  and  the 
book  of  Revelations.  Dr.  Evanson  rejects  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Matthew,  the  Gospel  of  St,  Mark,  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Luke,  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  the  Epistle  to 
the  Colossians,  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  the  First 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter  and  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  John. 

The  Greek  Testament  comprehends  181,253  words, 
yet  such  is  the  number  of  mistakes,  perversions,  for- 
geries and  interpolations  in  the  existing  manuscripts, 
that  in  comparing  the  documents  together  130.000  va- 
rious readings  are  detected;  showing  that  the  manu- 
scripts from  which  the  Nev/  Testament  is  translated, 
are  not  correct  in  one  word  out  of  six.  Those  discrep- 
ancies, afi'ecting  the  mere  spelling  of  a  word  in  some  in- 


68  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

stances,  and,  in  otiiers,  the  sense  of  a  passage,  are  of  all 
degrees  of  importance. 

In  Tischendorf 's  New  Testament,  publislied  by  Tauch- 
nitz,  at  Leipzig,  in  English,  and  for  sale  by  the  New 
York  booksellers,  we  find  the  following:  "But  the 
Greek  text  of  the  apostolic  writings,  since  its  origin  in 
the  first  century,  has  suffered  many  a  mischance  at  the 
hands  of  those  who  have  used  and  studied  it.  .  .  .  The 
authorized  version,  like  Luther's,  was  made  from  a 
Greek  text  which  Erasmus  in  1516,  and  Eobert  Steph- 
ens in  1550,  had  formed  from  manuscripts  of  later  date 
than  the  tenth  century.  .  .  .  vSince  the  sixteenth  centu- 
ry Greek  manuscripts  have  been  discovered,  of  far 
greater  antiquity  than  those  of  Erasmus  and  Stephens ; 
as  well  as  others  in  Latin,  Syriac,  Coptic  and  Gothic, 
into  which  languages  the  sacred  text  was  translated, 
between  the  second  and  fourth  centuries Schol- 
ars are  much  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  readings 
which  most  exactly  convey  the  word  of  God."  {Intro- 
duction, p.  1,  2). 

"When  mistakes  in  a  mianuscript  arise,  from  the  ignor- 
ance or  incompetency  of  the  copyist,  they  invalidate  its 
authority ;  when  they  arise  from  his  carelessness,  they 
are  proofs  that  he  entertained  no  reverence  for  it ;  and 
when  they  occur  from  a  deliberate  intention  on  his  part 
to  corrupt  and  to  interpolate  it,  they  are  demonstrations 
that  he  did  not  believe  in  its  divine  inspiration.  That 
the  religious  orders  did  not  believe  in  the  divine  in- 
spiration of  the  holy  scriptures,  is  as  undeniable  as 
it  is  that  they  deliberately  and  intentionally  marred  all 
the  Biblical  manuscripts  that  passed  through  their 
hands.     The  conviction  is  equally  irresistible  that  those 


SILENT  CONTEMPLATION.  6§ 

who  sanction  the  corruptions  of  the  sacred  text  by  using 
them  as  authority,  and  those  who  defend  them  in  defi- 
ance of  the  irrefragable  proof  of  their  spurious  character, 
forfeit  all  claim  to  a  reputation  of  common  honesty. 

There  is  another  class  of  forgeries  perpetrated  for  the 
good  of  the  Church,  to  which  I  will  briefly  advert.  Of 
this  description  is  the  Decretal  Epistle  of  Constantine 
the  Elder,  addressed  to  Pope  Sylvester — the  foundation 
of  the  Pope's  claim  to  temporal  sovereignty  ;  and  also 
the  Creed  of  Athanasius,  forged  two  hundred  years 
after  his  death,  and  which  Gennadius,  Patriarch  .of  Con- 
stantinople, upon  first  reading,  pronounced  to  be  the 
work  of  a  drunken  man.  All  ranks  of  the  Church 
seemed  to  have  become  infatuated  with  an  ambition  to 
be  forgers.  Pope  Stephen  II.  forged  a  letter,  and 
attributed  its  authorship  to  the  spirit  of  St.  Peter.  In 
this  document,  according  to  Gibbon,  "  The  apostle  assures 
his  adopted  sons,  the  King,  the  clergy,  and  the  nobles 
of  France,  that  dead  in  the  flesh,  he  is  still  active  in  the 
spirit ;  that  they  now  hear  and  must  obey  the  voice  of 
the  founder  and  guardian  of  the  Roman  Church ;  that 
the  virgins,  the  saints,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven,  unan- 
imously urge  the  request,  and  will  confess  the  obliga- 
tion ;  that  riches,  victory  and  paradise  will  crown  their 
pious  enterprise,  and  that  eternal  damnation  will  be  the 
penalty  if  they  suffer  his  tomb,  his  temple,  and  his 
people  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  perfidious  Saracens. 
( Dec.  vol.  v.,  chap,  xlix.,  p.  26. )  The  evidences  of 
similar  frauds  are  numerous.  All  the  letters  and  de- 
cretals of  Clementine  are  spurious.  But  few  of  the  nu- 
merous works  ascribed  to  Pope  Gregory  the  Great  are 
genuine.     The  First  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinth- 


70  MONASTIC  VOW  OF 

ians  is  egregeously  corrupted  and  interpolated  ;  Kig 
second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  is  so  much  mutilated 
that  but  a  fragment  of  it  remains ;  his  autobiography, 
in  which  he  is  made  to  take  a  journey  with  St.  Peter  ; 
and  all  his  apostolic  canons,  are  entire  fabrications.  The 
Apocalypse  was  rejected  as  spurious  at  the  Council  of 
Laodicea,  by  the  seven  churches  to  which  it  was  ad- 
dressed, and  the  sentence  was  almost  universally  con- 
firmed by  the  churches  of  Christendom.  Sirmund  shows 
that  the  Kicene  canons  have  been  corrupted,  altered, 
abridged,  and  forged  to  accommodate  them  to  the 
designs  of  the  church.  {Tom.  iv.,  p.  1-234).  To  es- 
tablish a  historical  basis  for  some  pious  imposition,  the 
the  letters  of  bishops,  decrees  of  councils,  and  bulls  of 
Popes  have  been  forged,  distorted,  marred,  interpolated 
or  destroyed.  Volume  after  volume  has  been  written 
aud  falsely  attributed  to  the  pen  of  some  distinguished 
author,  in  order  to  obtain  respect  and  authority  for  an 
absurd  ecclesiastical  claim  or  arbitrary  usurpation. 
Without  moral  principle,  and  intent  only  on  supporting 
the  ambitious  pretentions  of  the  Pope,  the  religious 
orders,  at  the  suggestion  of  interest,  scrupled  not  to 
destroy  the  finest  models  of  literary  taste,  and  to  per- 
petrate the  most  audacious  forgeries.  What  could  not 
militate  against  the-  credit  of  their  dogmas,  or  obstruct 
the  consummation  of  their  designs,  or  what  might,  by 
an  artful  adulteration  be  made  accessory  to  them,  they 
might  piously  spare  ;  but  whatever  was  in  its  nature 
too  inflexibly  inimical  to  the  success  of  them,  they  la- 
bored to  annihilate.  The  unavoidable  deduction  from 
the  existence  of  the  monkish  forgeries  is,  that  every 
doctrine  for  which  they  have  been  fabricated  to  prove, 


SILENT  CONTEMPLATION.  71 

13  false ;  and  that  every  doctrine  and  event  for  wliicli 
they  have  been  manufactured  to  disprove,  is  true. 
The  mutilation  and  destruction  of  ancient  authors  by 
the  religious  orders  is  a  positive  admission  that  such 
works  were  fatal  to  their  claims ;  the  attempt  to  manu- 
facture artificial  proof  by  corrupting  and  interpolating 
them,  is  an  acknowledgment  that  the  successful 
vindication  of  their  creed  and  pretensions  required 
proof  which  did  not  exist ;  and  the  cargoes  of  their 
forgeries,  each  instance  of  which  being  a  demonstration 
of  these  assertions,  and  consequently  an  undeniable  ob- 
jection to  the  validity  of  the  authority  upon  which  they 
rest  their  claims,  show  the  vast  amount  of  labor  the 
monks  have  undergone  to  disprove  their  own  doctrines, 
and  destroy  their  own  credibility. 

In  the  revival  of  learning,  inaugurated  by  profane 
genius,  the  monastic  orders,  which  possessed  the  trea- 
sures of  classic  literature,  took,  in  general,  no  active 
part.  The  literary  fires  which  smouldered  in  their  in- 
stitutions cast  but  a  sickly  glare  upon  the  darkness 
within,  and  the  feeble  rays  could  not  be  expected  to 
penetrate  the  massive  walls  of  these  huge  castles  of 
ignorance.  Resembling  more  a  taper  placed  under  a 
bushel  than  a  light  set  upon  a  hill,  they  left  the  sur- 
rounding region  enveloped  in  midnight  gloom.  The 
manuscripts  transcribed  or  perverted  by  the  monks 
were  stowed  away  as  useless  rubbish.  At  length  the 
holy  charm  which,  for  ages,  had  bound  the  church  in 
stupid  ignorance,  was  happily  dissolved.  Pope  Nicho- 
las v.,  catching  a  spark  of  the  fire  which  burned  in  the 
breast  of  his  lay  associates,  such  as  Cosmo  Medici,  his 
own,  too,  became  ignited.     Unconscious  or  regardless  of 


72  MONASTIC   YOW   OF 

tte  liberalizing  tendency  of  classical  literature,  lie  be- 
came enthusiastic  in  its  cause,  and  inaugurated  a  pur- 
suit wbicli  bas  exposed  tbe  forgeries  and  legends  of  the 
Catholic  Church  to  scorn  and  contempt.  Whatever 
were  his  private  viev/s,  his  public  example  and  asser- 
tions indicate  that  he  had  arrived  at  a  firm  conviction 
that  the  papal  chair  would  not  soon  again  be  filled  with 
another  friend  to  the  classics.  Diligently  improving  the 
auspicious  moment,  he  collected  the  dusky  and  moulder- 
ing manuscripts  from  the  monasteries,  while  his  coadju- 
tors sent  vessels  to  gather  them  from  abroad.  By  the 
united  labors  of  the  Pope  and  his  opulent  laymen, 
respectable  libraries  were  formed,  and  the  world  was 
enlightened  by  recovered  versions  of  Xenophon,  Diodo- 
rus,  Polybius,  Thuycidides  and  other  eminent  authors. 

The  apprehensions  of  Kicholas,  suggested  probably  by 
his  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  past  conduct  of  the 
church,  were  too  well  founded  not  to  be  confirmed  by 
subsequent  history.  The  Pagan  authors  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  speaking  in  the  clear  tones  of  reason  and  philo- 
sophy, could  not  subserve  the  purposes  of  ecclesiastical 
fraud  and  intolerance.  The  dark  conspiracy  to  deceive 
and  enslave  mankind,  and  the  systematized  measures 
to  keep  the  world  in  ignorance,  which  constitutes  a  per- 
manent feature  of  Catholic  polity,  could  derive  no  aid 
from  a  liberal  diffusion  of  Pagan  erudition.  Hence 
Leo  X.,  who  is  ranked  among  the  most  generous  of  the 
pontifical  patrons  of  the  classics,  prohibited  the  transla- 
tion of  them  into  the  vernacular  language. 

But  it  may  be  alleged  as  an  exception  to  the  usual 
hatred  manifested  by  the  church  to  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion, that  the  Pope  did,  at  times,  establish  colleges  and 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  73 

universities.  This  fact  is  undeniably  true.  Pope  Six- 
tus  IV.  established  several  universities ;  but  he  required 
from  each,  for  a  charter,  10,000  ducats ;  and  for  each 
collegiate  title  and  office,  from  10,000  to  20,000  ducats. 
Pope  Innocent  III.  also  founded  a  university ;  but  it 
was  on  condition  that  he  received  50,000  scudi  for  its 
charter.  He  also  very  generously  created  twenty-six 
secretaryships,  and  a  host  of  other  offices,  to  assist  the 
labors  of  education,  but  he  sold  appointments  to  them 
at  very  exorbitant  prices.  Pope  Alexander  VI.  also 
founded  a  university,  but  it  was  in  consideration  of  a 
magnificent  bonus ;  and  he  even  further  displayed  his 
magnanimity  by  nominating  eighty  writers  of  popish 
briefs,  and  selling  the  appointments  at  850  scudi  each. 
But  after  all  what  was  the  object  of  these  institutions? 
Was  it  to  advance  the  capacities  of  individual  man? 
Was  it  to  enlighten  society  at  large  ?  Not  at  all.  Gui- 
zot  says  :  "  For  the  development  of  the  clergy,  for  the 
instruction  of  the  priesthood,  she  [the  church]  was 
actively  alive ;  to  promote  these  she  had  her  schools, 
her  colleges,  and  all  other  institutions  which  the  de- 
plorable state  of  society  would  permit.  These  schools 
and  colleges,  it  is  true,  were  all  theological,  and  des- 
tined for  the  clergy;  and,  though  from  the  intimacy 
between  the  civil  and  religious  orders  they  could  not 
but  have  some  influence  on  the  rest  of  the  world,  it 
was  very  slow  and  indirect."  (Gen.  Hist.  Civ.,  Sect,  vi., 
p.  132).  Guizot  might  have  added  with  truth,  that 
even  for  her  own  clergy  the  church  never  tolerated  an 
educational  institution  without  receiving  an  exorbitant 
pecuniary  consideration,  nor  appointed  a  professor,  or 
any  other  officer,  without  receiving  pay  for  it. 
7* 


74  MONASTIC  VOW  OF 

Dens,  in  Hs  ''Systematic  Theology,''  reasons  thus: 
"  Because  forgers  of  money,  and  other  disturbers  of  the 
State,  are  justly  punished  with  death,  therefore  also  are 
heretics,  who  are  forgers  of  the  faith,  and,  as  experience 
shows,  greatly  disturb  the  State."  (  Dens,  2,  88,  89). 
If  this  logic  is  sound,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive  how 
Popes,  cardinals,  monks  and  priests  can  avoid  conceding 
justice  the  right  of  putting  them  to  death,  as  by  the  uni- 
versal testimony  of  history  and  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  ablest  Catholic  authors,  they  have  been  forgers  of 
the  faith  ;  and,  as  they  have  been  greater  forgers  than 
Protestants,  they  may,  according  to  their  own  logic,  be 
more  justly  put  to  death.  But  this  we  should  be  sorry 
to  witness. 

The  efforts  of  the  church  to  manufacture  evidence  in 
support  of  gratuitous  assumptions,  which  so  clearly  dis- 
proves what  it  asserts  at  every  step  ;  sinks  its  character 
and  authority  into  such  utter  insignificance ;  and 
in  proportion  to  the  warmth  of  its  zeal  adds  weight  to 
the  contempt  it  has  earned,  might  be  considered  un- 
worthy the  notice  of  sober  reason,  and  left  to  the 
crushing  jeer  of  its  own  ludicrousness.  Yet  when  its 
polluting  finger  presumes  to  touch  the  sacred  page  of 
history  ;  when  it  would  annihilate  all  historical  author- 
ity by  base  interpolations,  and  load  the  shelves  of  libra- 
ries with  its  spurious  trash,  it  has  invaded  a  province 
sacred  to  the  rights  of  the  world ;  a  province  in  which 
truth,  reason,  and  human  progress  have  a  deep  inter- 
est, and  which  must  be  protected  against  the  intrusion 
of  malignant  feet. 

From  the  monastic  vows  and  regulations,  we  might  be 
agreeably  surprised  if  the  literary  productions  of  those 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  75 

who  were  governed  by  them  were  anything  but  models 
of  absurdity  and  puerility.  It  would  naturally  be  sus- 
pected that  the  ideas  of  the  monks  would  be  shaded  by 
the  gloom  of  their  melancholy  abode,  contracted  by  the 
influence  of  their  solitary  confinement,  and  rendered 
misshapen  by  the  habit  of  conversing  exclusively  with 
their  own  meditations  ;  and  that  their  literary  produc- 
tions would  be  rife  with  all  the  inventions  to  which 
bigotry  and  superstition  could  prompt,  and  with  all  the 
craft  and  unscrupulousness  that  could  serve  the  pur- 
poses of  unpolished  and  unnatural  fraternities,  isolated 
from  society,  absolved  from  the  ties  and  obligations  of 
humanity,  and  exclusively  devoted  to  the  defense  and 
aggrandizement  of  an  organization  which  aimed  at  mo- 
nopolizing all  secular  rights,  immunities  and  privileges, 
in  order  to  command  the  dominion  and  luxuries  of  the 
world.  This  reasonable  presumption  we  shall  find  too 
well  confirmed  for  the  credit  of  human  nature,  in  those 
legends  and  theological  disquisitions  which  have  often 
puzzled  the  credulous,  but  much  oftener  curled  the  lip§ 
of  the  more  enlightened  into  a  smile  of  philosophical 
contempt.  Palpably  fictitious,  rarely  possessing  the 
merit  of  ingenuity,  and,  in  general,  absolutely  puerile, 
yet  have  the  monkish  legends  been  consecrated  as  di- 
vine in  the  Catholic  Mass-book,  enforced  upon  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  obstinate  by  the  terrors  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, and  sometimes  mistaken  by  history  for  actual 
events. 

This  ludicrous  mass  consists  in  part  of  magnified  and 
distorted  events  of  true  history,  and  in  part  of  person- 
ages and  details  entirely  spurious.  It  is  elaborately 
ornamented,  or  degraded  with  circumstancial  accounts 


76  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

of  miracles  which  were  never  performed,  with  reports 
of  debates  which  never  took  place,  and  with  details  of 
battles  which  were  never  fought.  Faithful  only  in 
transcribing  their  own  vitiated  taste  and  unscrupulous 
conscience  ;  and  decorating  their  narratives  with  coarse 
scenes  of  blood  and  bigotry,  of  death  and  horror,  of  hell 
anddemons,  they  have  furnished  a  record  of  absurdities, 
of  a  depth  of  hypocrisy,  of  an  audacity  in  fabrication, 
and  of  a  total  depravity  in  principle  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  deception  and  imposition.  Had  they,  like 
Sir  Thomas  Moore,  in  his  description  of  Eutopia,  or  no 
place,  described  a  people  which  were  no  people,  a  city 
which  was  invisible,  and  a  river  w^hich  was  waterless, 
they  could  scarcely  have  been  less  imaginary,  though  it 
must  be  conceded  that  they  are  less  entertaining  and 
instructive. 

Passing  over  the  polemical  rubbish,  the  absurd  topics 
of  discussion  and  the  ludicrous  logic  of  the  monastic 
orders,  which  would  be  too  tedious  for  a  reader  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  wo  will  briefly  allude  to  some  of 
their  amusing  legends,  which  have  been  consecrated  as 
sacred  history  in  the  devotional  books  of  the  church. 
The  actual  sufferings  and  deaths  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, they  have  grotesquely  magnified,  and  invented 
fanciful  modes  of  torture,  which  never  could  have  en- 
tered the  more  cultivated  brain  of  a  Roman  emperor. 

According  to  the  story  of  these  visionists,  when  a  Pa- 
gan female  embraced  Christianity,  she  was  often  com- 
pelled to  decide  whether  she  valued  her  virtue  higher 
than  she  did  her  religion  ;  and,  when  the  inflexibility  of 
her  faith  imperiled  her  innocence,  a  divine  power 
always  interposed,  and  miraculously  rescued  her  from  a 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION,  77 

dangerous  predicament     The  male  converts  were  sub- 
jected to  similar  modes  of  ingenious  torture.     A  young 
saint,  in  the  passion  of  his  iirst  love,  according  to  their 
authority,  was  once  chained  naked  to  a  bed  of  flowers, 
and  in  this  hapless  and  exposed  condition,  wontonly 
assaulted  by  a  beautiful  courtezan;   but  he  saved  his 
chastity  by  biting  off  his  tongue,     St.  Cecilia  made  a 
vow  of  perpetual  virginity,  but  her  father  disregarding 
the  unnatural  obligation,  betrothed  her  to  a  prince.     In 
spite  of  all  remonstrances  to  the  contrary,  the  marriage 
was  on  the  eve  of  being  consummated,  when  an  angel 
interposed,  and,    after  satisfactorily  adjusting  matters 
between  the  nuptial  parties,  rewarded  the  groom  for  the 
relinquishment  of  his  bride,  and  the  virgin  for  the  ob- 
stinacy of  her  resolution,  by  crowning  them  both  with 
wreaths  of  spiritual  roses  and  lilies,  culled  from  heaven's 
flower  garden.     Sometime  after  the  eventful  occurences 
of   this  wedding  party,  Amachius,  a   Eoman   prefect, 
commanded  Cecilia  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods.     Her  piety 
obliging  her  to  disobey  the  royal  injunction,  it  was  de- 
termined that  the  majesty  of  the  law  should  be  vindi- 
cated by  having  her  boiled  three  days  and  three  nights 
in  a  pot  of  water.     The  coldness  of  divine  grace  how- 
ever sufficiently  impregnated   her  body  to   protect  it 
from  injury.     As  her  piety  had  rendered  her  invulner- 
able to  the  effects  of  boiling  water,  the  emperor  ordered 
the  executioner  to  try  the  virtue  of  a  ponderous  axe. 
Accordingly  she  was  laid  upon  the  block  ;    the  execu- 
tioner gave  her  neck  three  scientific  strokes,  but  perr 
ceiving   her   head   still   attached   by   its    integuments, 
desisted  from  further  effort  convinced  that  the  accomr 
plishment  of  the  task  exceeded  his  constitutional  vigor. 


78  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

The  miraculous  feat  of  this  saint  in  inventing  music,  a 
long  time  after  all  nations  had  acquired  some  proficien- 
cy, at  least,  in  its  principles,  lias  often  been  the  theme  of 
pious  historians,  orators  and  poets.  St.  George  slew  a 
dragon  (  a  lizard ),  which  was  about  to  swallow  a  kings 
daughter.  St.  Dennis  walked  tvro  miles  after  his  head 
had  been  cut  off.  St.  John  of  God  displayed  so  much 
whimsical  zeal  that  he  was  supposed  to  be  demented, 
and  w^as  placed  in  a  lunatic  asylum.  St.  Hubert  vrent 
on  a  hunting  excursion,  and  seeing  a  stag  v.-ith  a  cross 
between  its  antlers,  became  converted  by  the  vision  into 
a  bishop.  He  received  a  key  from  St.  Peter,  which  is 
still  preserved  in  St.  Hubert's  monastery,  at  Ardennes, 
and  is  regarded  as  an  infallible  remedy  for  the  hydro-, 
phobia.  St.  Patrick  found  a  lost  boy,  whom  the  hogs 
had  nearly  devoured.  On  touching  the  mutilated  frame 
with  his  holy  hand,  it  recovered  the  lost  flesh  which 
had  been  digested  by  the  swine,  and  stood  before  the 
saint  perfectly  proportioned  in  all  its  parts,  and  with- 
out a  wound.  This  charitable  saint  once  fed  1,400  per- 
sons on  one  cow,  two  stags,  and  two  wild  boars. 
Eespecting,  however,  the  rights  of  ^^roperty,  and  per- 
ceiving that  to  be  benevolent  at  another's  expense  was 
a  suspicious  species  of  morality,  he  so  adroitly  con- 
trived the  management  of  his  miracle  that  the  cow 
which  had  been  eaten  up  by  the  people,  and  which 
belonged  to  a  poor  widow,  was  seen  the  next  day  well 
and  hearty,  and  as  comfortably  grazing  in  her  usual 
pastures  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  St.  Xavier, 
while  traversing  the  ocean,  lost  overboard  a  crucifix. 
On  landing,  a  crab  brought  it  in  his  claw,  and  rever- 
ently laid   it   at   his    feet.     The    Devil,    assuming   the 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  79 

shape  of  a  charming  woman,  once  made  indelicate  pro- 
posals to  him.  This  piece  of  impudence  so  enraged  the 
saint  that  he  spit  into  His  Satanic  Majesty's  angelic 
face.  The  Devil,  being  a  gentleman,  was  so  disgusted 
at  this  coarse  vulgarity,  that  he  ever  afterward  shunned 
Xavier's  society.  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  after  exhaust- 
ing the  strength  of  the  Catholic  arguments  in  favor  of 
consubstantiation,  in  a  debate  with  a  heretic,  finally 
converted  his  antagonist  by  an  appeal  to  the  under- 
standing of  a  horse.  Holding  up  the  host  before  the  an- 
imal, he  addressed  it  thus  :  "  In  virtue  and  in  the  name 
of  thy  creator,  I  command  thee,  0  horse  to  come,  and 
with  humility  adore  thy  God."  The  horse,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  saint,  instantly  left  the  corn  which  it  was 
eating,  advanced  to  the  host  and  fell  upon  its  knees  be- 
fore it. 

St.  Andrew  being  assaulted  by  the  devil  with  an  axe, 
and  by  a  company  of  imps  with  clubs,  called  for  assist- 
ance on  St.  John,  who  responded  with  a  regiment  of 
angels ;  and  capturing  the  devils,  chained  them  to  the 
ground.  At  this  exploit  St.  Andrew  laughed.  The 
Emperor  Maximus,  having  cut  St.  Apia  Tell  into  ten 
pieces,  the  angel  Gabriel  put  him  together  again.  This 
contest  of  disintegration  and  recomposition  was  carried 
on  with  much  spirit  between  Maximus  and  Gabriel. 
Ten  times  a  day  for  ten  consecutive  days  was  the  saint 
cut  into  ten  pieces  by  the  malice  of  the  one,  and  put  to- 
gether again  by  the  anatomical  skill  of  the  other.  St. 
Martin  of  Tours,  the  patron  saint  of  drunkards,  whose 
festival  was  formerly  celebrated  by  the  devout  with 
banqueting,  hilarity  and  carousals,  once,  on  a  drunken 
frolic,  divided  his  garments  with  a  poor  soldier.     At 


80  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

night,  in  a  dream,  he  beheld  Christ  wearing  the  identi- 
cal garment  he  had  given  away.  His  mind  became  so 
impressed,  probably  deranged,  that  he  turned  Catholic. 
The  face  of  this  saint  was  so  sanctimonious  that  it  once 
paralyzed  the  arm  of  a  robber,  which  was  raised  to  give 
him  a  death  blow.  He  wrought  many  miracles ;  could 
raise  the  dead  to  life,  Clovis,  after  his  Gothic  victory, 
made  him  a  rich  donation  ;  and  as  the  hero's  war  steed 
was  in  the  saint's  stable,  he  proposed  besides,  to  redeem 
it  with  the  generous  sum  of  100  ducats,  but  the  pious 
horse  refused  to  move  until  the  sum  was  doubled.  St. 
Anthony  saw  a  centaur  in  the  desert.  Finding  the 
corpse  of  the  hermit  Paul  in  the  wilderness,  and  being 
too  much  prostrated  through  fasting  to  bury  it,  two 
lions  seeing  his  difficulty,  politely  offered  their  assist- 
ance ;  and  after  digging  a  grave  and  depositing  in  it 
the  hermit's  corpse,  respectfully  vanished  away.  St. 
Athanasius  compliments  him  on  account  of  his  holy  ab- 
horence  of  clean  water,  and  for  not  having  suffered  his 
feet  to  be  contaminated  with  it  except  in  cases  of  una- 
voidable necessity.  (  Vet.  Ant,  c.  47  ),  St.  Palladus, 
seeing  a  hyena  standing  near  his  cave,  addressing  it, 
asked:  "  What's  the  matter ?"  "  Holy  father,"  replied 
the  beast,  "  the  odor  of  thy  sanctity  has  reached  me. 
I  killed  a  sheep  last  night,  and  want  to  confess  and 
get  absolution."  St.  Beuno  caused  the  earth  to  open  and 
swallow  a  disappointed  lover,  who  had  cut  off  the  head 
of  his  mistress  for  her  having  refused  to  marry  him. 
He  then,  by  saying  mass  over  the  remains  of  the  unfortu- 
nate lady,  caused  her  head  and  body  to  reunite,  and  life 
to  reanimate  her  frame.  St.  Nepomuk,  refusing  to  dis- 
close the  secret  confessions  of  a  queen,  to  her  husband 


SILENT   CONTEMPLATION.  81 

wlio  suspected  her  of  infidelity,  was  doomed  to  suffer 
.  death  by  drowning.  This  saint  was  canonized  by  Pope 
Innocent  III.,  and  his  tomb  is  shown  to  this  day.  But 
unfortunately  for  the  infallibility  of  His  Holines,  it  has 
been  indisputably  proved  that  no  such  person  as  St. 
Nepomuk  ever  existed.  A  priest  once  travelling  along 
a  solitary  road,  heard  a  most  harmonious  sound  pro- 
ceeding from  a  beehive.  On  approaching  it  he  discov- 
ered that  the  bees  were  adoring  the  eucharist,  and  sing- 
ing psalms  to  its  honor.  A  monk  residing  at  the  mon- 
astery of  Tebenoe  was  visited  by  an  angel  who  dictated 
to  him  a  liturgy.  This  divine  work  is  preferred  by  the 
learned  Cassion.  St.  Ambrose,  piously  inhuman,  care- 
fully instilled  into  the  youthful  minds  of  Theodosius  and 
Gratian  the  spirit  and  maxims  of  religious  persecution. 
He  taught  them  that  the  worship  of  idols  was  a  crime 
against  God,  and  that  an  emperor  is  guilty  of  the  crime 
he  neglects  to  punish.  All  the  intolerant  laws  and 
horrible  religious  butcheries  which  disgraced  the  ad- 
ministrations of  these  princes,  and  their  successors, 
originated  in  their  Catholic  education.  The  same  saint 
justified  the  conduct  of  a  bishop  who  had  been  convicted 
by  the  court  of  setting  fire  to  a  Jewish  Synagogue. 
(  Tom.  ii.  Epistle  xl.  p.  946 ).  St.  Augustine,  whose 
most  conspicuous  virtue  was  an  uncompomising  hatred 
of  heretics,  warmly  commended  the  inhuman  edicts  of 
Honorius  against  the  Donatists,  which  proscribed  and 
banished  several  thousands  of  their  priests,  stripped 
them  of  their  possessions,  deprived  their  laymen  of  the 
rights  of  citizens,  distracted  the  land  with  tumult  and 
blood,  and  drove  a  large  number  of  them  to  seek  relief 
by  invoking  martyrdom.     The  inhuman  saint  rejoiced 


82  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

at  the  despair  and  madness  whicli  shortened  the  lives  of 
these  unfortunate  persons,  as  it  would  hereafter  lessen 
their  torments  in  hell.  St.  Jerome  justly  denounced 
the  disgraceful  practice  of  the  clergy  in  defrauding  the 
natural  heirs  out  of  their  inheritance,  and  vindicated 
the  governmental  edicts  to  obstruct  this  system^atic 
plunder.  But  his  brother  monks  recriminated  ;  charged 
him  with  being  the  lover  of  Paula,  of  profanely  bestow- 
ing on  her  the  title  of  mother-in-law  of  God,  of  assign- 
ing himself  the  chief  place  in  her  will,  of  inducing  her 
to  abandon  her  infant  son  at  Rome,  of  exercising  an  un- 
due influence  on  her  beautiful  daughter,  and  of  induc- 
ing the  mother  to  consecrate  her  to  perpetual  virginity, 
so  that  he  might  encounter  no  obstacles  in  inheriting 
her  immense  possessions,  in  which  was  comprehended 
the  city  of  Necropolis.  To  these  charges  he  replied 
that  he  was  merely  the  steward  of  the  poor.  With  the 
fortune  of  Paula  he  built  four  monasteries.  He  was 
bitterly  opposed  to  St  Chrysostom,  who  boldly  de- 
nounced the  corruption  and  licentiousness  of  the  clergy 
and  imperial  court.  Keadily  and  maliciously  he  coin- 
cided with  the  opinion  of  Theophilus,  that  Chrysostom 
had  delivered  his  soul  to  the  Devil  to  be  adulter- 
ated ;  and  when  zeal  in  the  cause  of  virtue  had  brought 
upon  the  head  of  Chrysostom  the  wrath  of  the  emperor 
and  the  court,  and  he  was  incarcerated  in  a  dungeon, 
these  two  lights  of  the  church  had  the  decency  to  re- 
gret that  some  punishment  more  adequate  to  his  guilt 
was  not  inflicted.  St.  Cyril,  of  Alexandria,  piously 
lusted  after  temporal  power,  and,  as  the  patriotic  No- 
vitians  obstructed  his  designs,  he  closed  their  churches, 
took  forcible  possession  of  their  sacred  utensils,  plun- 


SILENT    CONTEMPLATION.  83 

dered  tKe  dwelling  of  Theapentus,  their  bishop  ;  and 
then  seizing  on  the  Jewish  synagogue,  drove  the  Jews 
from  the  city  and  pillaged  their  houses.  The  governor 
interposed  ;  but  five  hundred  armed  monks  surrounded 
him  and  attempted  to  murder  him.  Hypatia,  a  lady 
celebrated  for  her  personal  charms,  unblemished  char- 
acter, and  extraordinary  literary  acquirements,  was,  on 
account  of  her  Novitian  proclivities,  assaulted  by  the 
holy  forces  of  St.  Cyril,  dragged  from  her  carriage, 
and  punctured  to  death  with  tiles. 

The  enumeration  of  the  fables  of  the  monks,  and  of 
the  atrocious  acts  of  canonized  saints,  might  be  con- 
tinued until  it  filled  huge  volumes  ;  but  well-informed 
Catholics  will  be  thankful  that  this  notice  is  so  brief. 
The  Missil,  the  Glories  of  Mary  and  other  Catholic  com- 
pendia, some  of  w^hich  consist  of  fifty  folio  volumes,  will 
satisfy  the  more  curious.  The  profound  homage  paid  to 
the  monks  for  supposed  sanctity,  and  the  inquisitorial 
terrors  which  -were  brought  to  bear  in  favor  of  their 
frauds,  so  blunted  public  perception  to  truth  that  the 
fictitious  events  and  personages  invented  by  one  age 
were  believed  by  the  succeeding,  until  the  church  be- 
came the  simple  dupe  of  its  own  forgeries,  and  self- 
cursed  by  accepting,  as  matters  of  fact,  the  fables  and 
impositions  with  which  it  had  humbugged  former  ages. 
Meldegg,  Catholic  Professor  of  the  Theological  Faculty 
of  Freiburg,  affords  the  following  testimony  in  favorof 
what  has  been  stated :  "  The  old  breviary,"  says  he, 
"crammed  full  of  fictitious  or  much-colored  anecdotes 
of  saints,  with  passages  of  indecorous  import,  requires  a 

thorough  revision Some  Masses  are  founded  on 

stories  not  sufficiently  proved,  or  palpably  ficttcious,  as 


84         MONASTIC   VOW   OF   SILENT   CONTEMPLATION. 

the  Mass  of  the  Lancea  Christi,  the  Inventio  Crusis,  &c." 
The  ludicrousness  of  the  monastic  vow  of  silent  con- 
temjDlation  is  visible  in  the  misshapen  ideas  of  the 
monks ;  its  pernicious  tendency,  in  the  frauds,  perver- 
sions, distortions  and  interpolation  w^hich  it  has  led 
them  to  perpetrate  ;  its  bigotry,  in  the  wide  destruction 
of  ancient  literature  to  which  it  has  incited  them ;  its 
absurdness,  in  the  puerile  and  contemptible  productions 
which  it  has  induced  them  to  elaborate  ;  and  its  immor- 
ality, in  that  coarseness  and  vulgarity  in  their  literature, 
so  offensive  to  a  sense  of  propriety,  and  which  some- 
times makes  an  allusion  to  their  works  a  matter  of  re- 
luctance. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The   Monastic  Vow  of  Poverty. 

The  monachal  vows  which  we  have  considered  in  the 
foregoing  chapters  were  assumed  hj  all  the  religious 
orders  prior  to  the  thirteenth  century.  At  that  period 
orders  were  inaugurated  to  assist  in  the  administration  of 
the  public  affairs  of  the  church.  As  these  orders  as- 
sumed obligations  incompatible  with  the  observance  of 
silence  and  seclusion,  the  vows  imposing  them  were  not 
enjoined.  But  the  vow  of  poverty,  which  will  be  the 
subject  of  the  present  chapter,  and  the  vow  of  celibacy 
and  obedience,  which  will  hereafter  be  considered,  w^ere 
assumed  by  all  the  religious  orders,  both  antecedent  and 
subsequent  to  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  vow  of  poverty  embraced  an  unqualified  abjura- 
tion of  all  right  to  acquire  or  hold  individual  property, 
but  granted  the  privilege  of  owning  property  in  a  cor- 
porate capacity.  This  privilege  was,  however,  variously 
restricted  by  the  terms  of  different  monastic  charters. 
The  Carmelites  and  the  Augustines  were  permitted  to 
hold  such  an  amount  of  real  estate  as  would  be  sufficient 
for  their  support ;  the  Dominicans  were  limited  to  the 
possession  of  personal  property ;  while  the  Franciscans 
were  not  allowed  to  hold  either  real  estate  or  j^ersonal 
property. 

The  vow   of  poverty  assumed   by   ths   monks  was 

adopted  either  from  the  instigations  of  an  artful  policy, 

to  acquire  wealth  with  the  reputation  of  despising  it,  or 

from  a   conviction   that   poverty  was   a   blessing   and 

8 


86  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

wealtli  an  evil.  If  the  first  hypothesis  is  correct,  the 
assumption  of  the  vow  was  exceedingly  reprehensible ; 
if  the  second,  it  was  absolutely  absurd. 

A  condition  of  poverty,  abstractly  considered,  is  a 
matter  of  neither  praise  nor  censure.  It  is  sometimes  a 
source  of  degredation  ;  often  of  crime,  and  always  of  in- 
convenience and  embarrassment.  Its  general  tendency 
is  to  weaken  in  man  his  inborn  sense  of  personal  inde- 
pendence ;  to  debase  his  mind  with  notions  of  fictitious 
inferiority  ;  to  degrade  his  social  dignity  by  inducing 
sycophantic  and  obsequious  habits  ;  and  to  lead  him  to 
sacrifice  his  conscious  equality  to  the  demands  of  arti- 
ficial rank.  The  incessant  toil  imposed  by  poverty  on 
the  energies  of  the  poor  obdurates  their  nature  ;  and, 
allowing  no  interval  for  mental  culture,  permits  nothing 
to  interrupt  or  soften  its  tendency.  The  mortifying 
difficulties  experienced  by  this  class  of  society  to  obtain, 
by  honest  labor,  a  subsistence  for  themselves  and  their 
natural  dependents,  have  sometimes  led  them  to  become 
depredators  upon  society,  when  their  constitutional 
principles,  unwarped  by  indigence,  would  have  secured 
their  obedience  to  law  and  their  labors  for  the  public 
good.  Graces  have  been  lost  in  brothels,  and  talents 
extinguished  on  scaffolds,  which,  had  tolerable  means 
protected  against  the  cravings  of  hunger,  might  have 
added  lustre  to  the  female  character,  and  heroes,  states- 
men and  scholars  to  the  scroll  of  fame.  Poverty  beget- 
ting despair,  and  despair  destroying  hope,  the  incentive 
to  action,  the  powers  of  genius  sunk  into  the  torpidity 
of  stupefaction,  and  the  strength  of  a  lion  slumbered  in 
the  inactivity  of  a  sloth.  The  chill  w^hich  poverty 
breathes  over  the  mind  is  as  unfriendly  to  the  unfold- 


1»0VERTY.  87 

ing  of  the  intellectual  germs,  as  the  icy  atmosphere  of 
winter  is  to  the  fructification  of  vegetable  seed.  The 
poet  or  philosopher,  hoveled  in  penury,  without 
books  or  scientific  instruments,  with  spare  meals  and 
gloomy  forebodings,  never  creates  his  brightest  gem, 
nor  solves  his  profoundest  problem.  However  sweetly 
Burns  may  sing  or  Otway  melt,  or  however  importantly 
other  sons  of  indigence  may  have  contributed  to  the 
augmentation  of  the  volume  of  science  and  literature, 
yet  the  world  has  never  heard  their  sweetest  song,  nor 
read  their  brightest  period  ;  for  the  groan  of  penury  has 
marred  the  harmony  of  the  one,  and  the  tear  of  want 
has  dimmed  the  lustre  of  the  other. 

As  a  condition  of  poverty  is,  in  the  abstract,  a  subject 
of  neither  praise  nor  blame,  so  also  is  a  condition  of 
wealth.  "Wealth,  however,  is  the  ablest  means  of  ad- 
vancing individual  and  social  progress,  as  well  as  the 
sole  remedy  for  the  evils  of  poverty.  If  it  cannot  be 
adduced  as  a  ground  of  esteem  or  of  respectability,  or 
as  an  apology  for  the  ignorance,  stupidity,  pomposity, 
vanity  and  vulgarity  with  which  it  may  adventitiously 
be  associated,  yet,  as  it  amplifies  the  means  of  ben- 
eficence, and  protects  the  weakness  of  human  nature 
against  temptation  arising  from  indigence,  its  honest 
acquisition  is  always  consistent  with  the  severest  prin- 
ciples of  rectitude  ;  and  its  pursuit  is  recommended  by 
the  honorable  pride  of  personal  responsibility,  the  mo- 
tives of  prudence  and  forecast,  and  the  consideration  of 
every  domestic  and  social  obligation.  Without  its  aid 
the  world  would  have  remained  in  a  state  of  primal 
barbarism  ;  the  commercial  intercourse  of  nations,  the 
first  element  of  civilization  and  the  principal  source  of 


88  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

national  prosperity,  power  and  greatness,  would  never 
have  been  known  ;  agricultural,  manufacturing,  mechan- 
ical and  mining  interests,  unstimulated  by  the  lucrative 
traffic  of  supplying  a  foreign  demand  for  surplus  domes- 
tic production,  would  never  have  been  extensively  de- 
veloped; the  knowledge,  the  exotic  luxuries,  and  the 
improvments  in  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  civil- 
ized life  derived  from  international  trade,  could  never 
have  been  obtained ;  the  great  bond  of  the  amity  of  na- 
tions, and  the  power  created  by  the  pecuniary  advan- 
tages of  exchanging  with  one-another  the  products  of 
their  different  climates,  and  which,  by  dissipating  mu- 
tual prejudices,  suspicion,  vanity  and  self-conceit,  has 
united  them  in  friendly  and  beneficial  intercourse,  would 
never  have  existed ;  and,  as  the  first  altars  were  erected 
for  the  exposure  of  merchandise  for  sale,  as  the  first 
ofi'erings  w^ere  the  currency  by  which  goods  w^ere  pur- 
chased, penalties  satisfied,  salaries  paid,  and  amity  and 
friendship  expressed ;  and,  as  the  first  temples  were 
market-houses  built  for  the  accommodation  of  the  traffic 
of  the  caravans,  and  to  protect  the  goods  against  plun- 
dering barbarians,  who  understood  not  the  conventional 
rights  of  property,  had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  in 
the  pursuit  of  wealth,  communities  felt  the  importance 
of  establishing  convenient  centres  of  trade  and  modes 
of  exchange,  the  ceremonies  of  religion  would  never 
have  been  invented.  (  See  Heeron's  Historical  Re- 
searches, translated  by  Bancroft). 

As  neither  a  condition  of  poverty  nor  a  condition  of 
wealth  is  a  subject  of  praise  nor  censure  ;  but,  as  the 
former  inflicts  on  humanity  its  worst  evils,  and  the  lat- 
ter confers  on  it  incalculable  advantages,  a  vow  of  pov- 


POVERTY.  89 

erty  can  have  no  innate  sanctity  to  commend  it,  but  must 
have  all  constituents  that  can  render  it  objectionable. 
When  it  is  further  considered  that  there  is  a  modifying 
reciprocity  incessantly  acting  between  the  conditions  of 
the  different  members  of  the  human  family,  making  the 
prosperity  of  one  advantageous  to  all,  and  the  indi- 
gence of  one  disadvantageous  to  all,  we  may  find  not 
only  a  selfish,  but  also  a  patriotic  incentive  in  availing 
ourselves  of  any  pecuniary  right  of  our  being.  No  one 
can  be  indigent  without  decreasing  the  wealth  of  ano- 
ther, nor  opulent  without  contributing  to  the  subsistence 
of  others,  nor  industrious  without  adding  to  the  sum  of 
national  wealth,  nor  indolent  without  consuming  that 
for  which  he  renders  no  equivalent.  Now,  as  the  vow 
of  poverty  is  inconsistent  with  the  virtues  and  obliga- 
tions created  by  the  mutual  dependence  and  reciprocal 
influence  of  the  condition  and  circumstances  of  man- 
kind on  each  other ;  as  it  fosters  all  the  evils  that 
demoralize  the  social  state  ;  as  it  multiplies  the  number 
of  paupers,  discourages  industry,  sanctifies  pernicious 
influences,  and  burdens  society  with  the  support  of  in- 
dolent and  useless  members,  it  is  at  variance  with  the 
interests  of  man  and  th^j)rosperity  of  government. 

National  wealth  is  the  aggregate  of  individual 
wealth.  The  greater  is  the  amount  of  individual 
wealth  in  a  nation,  and  the  more  equally  it  is  distri- 
buted among  the  inhabitants,  the  less  are  the  evils  of 
poverty,  the  more  independent  and  responsible  are  the 
citizens,  the  more  energetically  are  the  agricultural, 
mineral,  manufacturing,  and  commercial  interests  devel- 
oped, the  more  generally  and  intimately  are  the  inter- 
ests of  the  people  interwoven  with  the  fabric  of  the 
8* 


90  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

government,  the  greater  will  be  the  nation's  prosperity, 
the  more  formidable  its  arms,  the  more  peaceful  its  in- 
ternal condition,  and  the  more  durable  its  prosperity. 

A    reformatory    institution,   to  be    efficacious,    must 
be    adapted    to    the    nature    of    man    and    his    socia 
condition.       Its    principles    must    be     his     principles. 
Its  measures  must  tend  to  aid  his  fullest  development. 
To  accomplish  this  object  it  must  seek  to  abolish  all  re- 
strictions on  his  rights,  to  remove  whatever  vitiates  his 
sense  of  independence,  to  incite  his  industry  by  making 
labor  honorable  and  its  rewards  certain,  and  to  annul 
the  immunities,  exemjDtions,  privileges  and  monopolies 
which  degrade  the  masses  by  indigence  and  invidious 
distinctions,  and  corrupt  the  few  by  luxury  and  ficti- 
tious   dignity.     But   the    monachal   institution,    which 
sanctions   poverty,   the  most  prolific  source  of  crime ; 
which  denounces  individual  wealth,  the  great  element 
of  civilization,  and  of  individual  and  national  improve- 
ment ;   which   inculcates   indolence,    the   parasite    that 
feeds   on  the   vitals  of  society;  which  discourages  the 
avocations   of    industry,  the  parent  of  personal   inde- 
pendence and  responsibility ;  and  which  aims  at  a  mo- 
nopoly of  wealth,  itself  the  source  of  political  inequal- 
ity, of  despotic  government  and  of  popular  servitude — 
can  advance  no  claim  to  a  magnanimous  mission.     To 
e&teem  it  a  virtue  to  be  poor,  pleasing  to  infinite  intel- 
ligence to  renounce  the  best  means  of  self-improvement, 
criminal  to  protect  human  integrity  against  the  assaults 
originating  in  a  condition  of  poverty,  are  ideas  of  such 
an  absurd    nature    that   the    inference  can  scarcely  be 
avoided,  that  the  source  whence  they  originated  must 
have  been  utterly  destitute,  not  only  of  moral  principle, 
but  of  common  sense. 


POVERTY,  91 

But  whenever  conduct  becomes  enigmatical,  and  prin^ 
ciples  are  avowed  contradictory  to  human  reason,  pas- 
sion and  interests,  an  ordinary  knowledge  of  the  craft 
of  ambition  is  apt  to  suggest  a  suspicion,  that  these 
singular  abnegations  have  not  sprung  from  a  sanctity 
that  has  elevated  the  avowers  above  human  nature,  but 
from  the  injustice  of  their  designs  and  the  profundity  of 
their  dissimulation.  Conscious  that  candor  would  be  de- 
feat, they  have  endeavored  to  accomplish  objects  by 
pretending  to  oppose  them.  The  church  never  being 
too  strongly  fortified  in  holiness  not  to  practise  the  ad- 
vantageous vices  of  the  world,  has  invariably  been 
betrayed  into  the  adoption  of  this  crafty  policy ;  but, 
always  fanatical,  she  has  never  been  discreet.  Not 
only  has  she  denied  her  real  designs,  but,  in  order  to 
conceal  them,  has  imposed  vows  of  such  an  absurd 
and  inconsistent  import,  as  could  not  fail  to  reveal  the 
hypocrisy  and  craft  that  dictated  them.  The  vow  of 
poverty  was  not  assumed  to  become  indigent,  but  to 
become  opulent.  It  was  a  financial  manoeuvre,  designed 
to  facilitate  the  routine  of  business ;  and  it  proved  a 
very  efficacious  means  of  self-emolument.  It  won  a 
reputation  for  the  holy  beggars,  that  humbled  imperial 
dignity  at  their  feet.  Theodosius  refused  sustenance 
until  a  monk  who  had  anathematized  him,  nullified  it 
by  absolution.  The  Empress  of  Maximus,  in  her  own 
palace,  at  her  own  table,  esteemed  it  a  high  honor  to  be 
permitted  to  wait  as  a  servant  on  St.  Martin  of  Tours. 
While  the  assumption  of  unnatural  vows  invested  the 
mendicant  monks  with  the  credit  and  importance  of 
supernatural  beings,  and  elevated  them  above  the  dig- 
nity of  emperors  and  empresses,  it  opened   to  their 


92  •       MONASTIC   VOW    OF 

avarice  the  treasures  of  the  world,  and  enabled  them 
not  only  to  fill  their  coflfers  with  the  people's  money? 
but  to  win  their  blessing  in  the  act  of  defrauding  them. 
Such  was  the  haughty  indifference  of  the  Abbot  Pambo, 
who  seemed  to  imagine,  with  his  church,  that  he  was 
the  owner  of  the  wealth  of  the  world,  that  when  Mala- 
ria^ a  rich  sinner,  presented  him  a  donation  of  plate  for 
his  monastery,  and  intimated  that  its  weight  was  about 
three  hundred  pounds^  replied  :  "  Offer  you  this  to  me 
or  to  God  ?  If  to  God,  who  weighs  the  mountains  in  a 
balance,  he  need  not  be  informed  of  the  weight  of  your 
plate."  The  real  design  and  value  of  the  monastic  vows 
was  once  forcibly  expressed  by  a  Benedictine  monk, 
who  remarked:  "My  vow  of  poverty  has  given  me 
one  hundred  thousand  crowns  a  year ;  my  vow  of  obe- 
dience has  raised  me  to  the  rank  of  a  sovereign  prince." 
An  incident  occurred  in  Paris,  in  relation  to  two  eccle- 
siastical dignitaries  which  illustrates  the  cupidity  and 
unapostolic  character  of  the  church.  Innocent  IX,  and 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas  having  met  together  in  Paris,  and 
a  capacious  plate,  piled  with  gold,  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  indulgences,  being  brought  into  the  room  in 
which  they  were  seated,  the  enraptured  Pope  exclaimed : 
**  Behold,  the  days  are  past  when  the  church  could  say, 
gold  and  silver  have  I  none."  But  the  saint  truthfully 
remarked:  "The  days  are  also  past  when  the  church 
could  say  to  the  paralytic,  arise  and  walk."  Praetaxta- 
tus,  a  Pagan  philosopher,  viewing  the  princely  rev- 
enues of  the  church,  declared  that  if  he  could  become 
bishop  of  Rome,  it  might  even  remove  his  scruples 
about  believing  in  Christianity. 

Assuming  the  strongest  possible  obligations  to  main- 


tain  a  perpetual  condition  of  absolute  poverty,  the 
monks  yet  found  it  compatible  with  the  principles  and 
teachings  of  the  church,  to  convert  their  religious  or- 
ganizations into  a  financial  corporation,  and  to  conceal 
its  character  and  design  under  a  veil  of  angelic  piety. 
The  wealth  which  they  apparently  scorned,  they  unscru- 
pulously amassed ;  the  power  which  they  scoffed  at 
as  profane,  they  attempted  to  monopolize  ;  to  whatever 
they  seemed  the  most  indifferent,  they  the  most  sedu- 
lously labored  to  acquire  ;  and  whatever  they  professed 
with  their  lips  they  violated  in  their  practice.  This 
consummate  hypocrisy  might  be  condemned  by  the  pro* 
fane  sceptic,  but  the  means  crowned  the  end  with  too 
high  a  degree  of  success  not  to  be  justified  by  the  piety 
of  the  religious  orders.    . 

The  measures  and  designs  of  this  false  and  crafty 
policy  harmonized  too  well  with  the  pretensions  of  the 
Pope,  and  furnished  his  purposes  with  too  able  and  in- 
genious an  auxiliary,  not  to  command  his  fostering  care 
and  protection.  Equal  in  duplicity  and  rapaciousness, 
he  exempted  the  mendicant  orders  from  all  secular 
and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  privileged  them  to  de- 
mand alms  without  restriction,  invested  them  with  the 
exclusive  power  of  selling  indulgences,  and  conferred 
on  them  the  lucrative  prerogative  of  accepting  legacies 
under  the  evasive  name  of  offerings.  By  this  munifi- 
cent lavishment  of  spiritual  favors,  the  mendicant  or- 
ders soon  found  themselves  transported  from  an  apparent 
condition  of  pauperism  to  a  real  condition  of  princely 
wealth  and  power;  enjoying  at  the  same  time  all  the 
sympathy  that  indigence  could  excite,  and  all  the  lux- 
ury that  money  could  purchase.     Exempted  from  secu* 


94  MONASTIC  VOW  OF 

lar  jurisdiction,  they  were  empowered  to  plunder,  ravish 
and  murder  with  impunity ;  privileged  to  demand  alms 
of  all,  they  were  the  masters  of  the  fortunes  of  all ; 
endowed  with  the  exclusive  power  of  vending  indulg- 
ences, they  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  the  most  lucrative 
trade  that  was  ever  projected;  and,  allowed  to  receive 
legacies,  they  were  enabled,  after  having  wheedled  the 
devout  out  of  their  treasure  while  in  health,  to  take 
advantage  of  their  dotage,  and  to  stand  over  their 
dying  pillow,  and  dictate  the  terms  of  their  last  testa- 
ment to  the  advantage  of  the  church,  and  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  natural  heirs. 

Avarice,  like  the  cormorant,  is  insatiable  ;  the  more 
it  is  gorged,  the  keener  is  its  appetite ;  and  this  rapa- 
cious demon  having  taken  complete  possession  of  the 
monastic  body,  every  dollar  that  its  craft  wrung  from 
the  devout  only  inflamed  its  greediness  the  more. 
"When  it  had  exhausted  the  gold  of  a  penitent,  its  cove- 
tous eye  became  fascinated  by  his  land ;  and,  what 
avarice  craved,  financial  sagacity  quickly  perceived  an 
available  method  of  obtaining. 

The  church  possessing  no  inherent  moral  vitality, 
sank  with  the  middle  ages  into  barbarism ;  her  power 
was  then  supreme,  but  insecurity  of  life  and  property 
prevailed,  and  under  her  auspices  temporal  power  de- 
generated to  a  system  of  rapine  and  plunder.  Had  she 
been  divine,  she  would  then  have  beamed  as  a  lone  star 
on  a  tempestuous  ocean  ;  but  being  earthy,  she  resem- 
bled the  other  earthy  compounds ;  nor  could  she  well 
be  distinguished  from  the  barbarians  and  savages  with 
whom  she  mingled,  except  by  her  imperfect  notions  of 
morality  and  justice,  and  her  superior  financial  skill 


POVERTY.  95 

in  speculating  on  public  calamity.  The  barons,  in  tbe 
support  of  their  interminable  wars,  had  taxed  their 
subjects  to  an  extent  which  produced  general  dissatis- 
faction. As  the  monasteries  enjoyed  inviolability  and 
freedom  from  taxation,  they  offered  the  disaffected  a 
refuge  from  an  oppressive  taxation,  if  they  would  be- 
come lay  monastic  members,  and  convey  their  worldly 
goods  to  the  church.  A  wish  to  inhale  the  supposed 
holy  atmosphere  of  the  monasteries,  to  partake  of  their 
luxuries,  to  enjoy  the  indulgence  they  accorded  to  the 
commission  of  sin,  to  evade  an  impoverishing  taxation, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  retain  some  degree  of  personal 
freedom,  induced  wealthy  persons  of  both  sexes  to  con- 
clude contracts  with  the  monasteries,  by  which  they  be- 
came penniless,  wholly  dependent  for  subsistence  on 
them,  and  irrevocably  subjected  to  their  despotic  domi- 
nation. 

Beside  this  shrewd  speculation  on  public  calamity, 
the  excitement  and  irruption  of  the  crusades  afforded 
the  monks  another  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  their 
financial  skill.  With  the  instinctive  foresight  of  cupid- 
ity, they  had  perceived  the  pecuniary  advantages  which 
would  accrue  to  their  order  in  the  course  of  the  holy 
war  about  to  be  inaugurated ;  and  as  they  had  fanned 
its  first  sparks  into  a  general  conflagration,  they  could 
hardly  have  any  conscientious  scruples  in  remunerating 
themselves,  by  concluding  such  sharp  and  profitable 
bargains  as  occasion  presented  and  vows  facilitated. 
They  well  knew  the  commercial  art  of  bartering  that 
which  was  worthless  for  that  which  was  valuable  ;  and 
of  advancing  the  market  price  of  an  article  by  a  mo- 
nopoly of  it,  or  depressing  its  value  by  increasing  the 


96  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

supply  beyond  the  demand.  In  consequence  of  the 
public  excitement  real  estate  became  greatly  depressed 
in  value,  and  holy  war-horses,  clubs,  lances,  battle^ 
axes,  and  other  sacred  instruments  of  destruction,  pro- 
portionally advanced  in  price.  The  sagacious  provi- 
dence of  the  monks  having  in  advance  accomulated 
vast  military  stores,  very  obligingly  accommodated  the 
devout  crusader,  by  exchanging  an  inconsiderable  por- 
tion of  them  for  a  very  considerable  tract  of  his  land. 
By  such  operations  the  church  obtained  very  extensive 
domains  in  exchange  for  objects  of  trifling  value,  or  for 
very  inadequate  sums  of  money.  The  success  of  the 
sacerdotal  financiers  becoming  notorious,  land  specu- 
lation grew  into  a  contagious  mania.  Even  kings  came 
into  the  market  to  buy  up  the  domains  of  their  deluded 
vassels.  The  competition  between  monks  and  mon- 
archs  was  as  great  as  it  was  amusing ;  but  sacerdotal 
craft  was  the  more  successful  negotiator.  The  oil 
with  which  the  priests  had  been  anointed  at  their  ordi- 
nation was  supposed  to  endow  them  with  the  power  of 
bestowing  blessings  and  curses  at  will,  and  the  high  rep- 
utation for  sanctity  which  they  had  acquired  by  vows 
'of  absolute  poverty,  conferred  advantages  of  trade  on 
them  which  crowns  and  sceptres  could  not  command. 
Kings  could  purchase  only  with  money  ;  but  the  mon- 
asteries had  an  exhaustless  bank  of  indulgences,  of  part- 
ing blessings,  of  promised  prayers,  and  of  promised 
masses  for  departed  souls.  This  bogus  currency  may 
provoke  the  levity  of  the  profane,  but  it  was,  neverthe- 
less, prized  by  the  saints  above  the  value  of  silver  or 
gold,  and  held  by  the  monasteries  at  its  highest  market- 
able price.     With  the  command  of  such  unlimited  re- 


POVERTY.  97 

sources,  the  monasteries  could  successfully  outbid 
princes,  and  purchase  without  impoverishment  what 
monarchs  could  not  without  bankruptcy. 

With  an  air  of  piety  and  benevolence,  but  with  an 
unscrupulousness  that  regarded  neither  truth  nor  prin- 
ciple, the  monks  invented  every  fiction,  and  adopted 
every  possible  method  of  augmenting  the  stores  of  their 
wealth.  AVell  aware  that  human  piety  is  more  easily 
inflamed  by  the  prospect  of  gold  than  by  the  prospect 
of  heaven,  they  manufactured  extravagant  reports  of 
the  wealth  of  Jerusalem ;  representing  it  as  a  vast 
storehouse  of  gems  and  precious  metal.  So  glovv'ing' 
were  these  descriptions  that  the  piety  of  the  crusaders 
became  excited  into  frenzy,  and  their  devotion  into  irre- 
pressible vociferousness ;  a  delightful  anticipation  rapt 
them  into  heavenly  ecstacies ;  and  impatience  for  the 
glorious  results  of  the  coming  combat  appeared  to  be 
the  only  unpleasant  ingredient  that  marred  their  hap- 
piness. On  huts  and  farms,  on  palaces  and  domains, 
they  looked  down  with  scornful  indifference ;  for  they 
felt  that  wealth  surpassing  the  treasures  of  the  Indies, 
and  palaces  more  gorgeous  than  Europe  could  build, 
would  inevitably  raward  their  pious  adventure.  The 
cool-headed  priest,  too  well  informed  to  partake  of  the, 
general  delusion,  deliberately  viewed  the  enthusiasm, 
and  calmly  calculated  by  what  means  it  might  be  sus- 
tained and  augmented,  and  how  it  could  most  judi- 
ciously be  made  to  administer  to  the  pecuniary  advan- 
tage of  the  church.  While  the  coldness  with  which  the 
reason  and  conscience  of  priests  secretly  regarded  the 
general  lunacy,  was  well  disguised,  the  masses,  on 
the  contrary,  were  all  flame  and  fury,  and  wrought  up 
*9 


9S  MONASTIC  VOW  OF 

to  suck  a  pitcB.  of  anxiety  to  wrest  the  lioly  land  from 
the  Infidels  and  appropriate  it  to  themselves^  that  they 
became  indifferent  to  the  treasure-  and  land  that  they 
already  possessed.  In  this  unhealthy  state  of  the  pub- 
lic mind,  it  was  an  easy  task  for  spiritual  advisers  to 
relieve  their  confiding  pupils  of  their  revenues,  and  ul- 
timately to  become  the  proprietors  of  many  of  their 
domains. 

The  method  by  which  this  magnificent  object  was  ac- 
complished, was  not  only  by  the  treachery  of  exchang- 
ing trumpery  for  valuables,  but  also  by  inducing  the 
soldiers  of  the  cross  to  devolve,  during  their  absence, 
.the  care  of  their  land  and  revenues  on  the  monasteries, 
and  to  make  them  their  heirs-at-law  in  case  of  death 
abroad.  As  but  few  of  the  crusaders  of  some  of  the 
expeditions  ever  returned,  as  many  of  all  of  them  per- 
ished abroad,  we  must  accord  the  credit  of  extraordi- 
nary shrewdness  to  the  calculating  cupidity  of  the 
monks,  who  could  make  the  love,  devotion,  lunacy  and 
enthusiasm  of  the  devout,  their  life  at  home  and  death 
abroad,  equally  advantageous  to  the  monastic  cofi'ers. 
As  the  infatuation,  so  beneficial  to  the  church,  was  gen- 
eral ;  as  the  convulsions  of  the  times  rendered  property 
of  all  descriptions  exceedingly  insecure ;  and,  as  many 
of  the  devout,  equally  frantic  with  the  crusaders,  were 
restrained,  either  by  infirmity  or  other  circumstances, 
from  embarking  in  the  holy  enterprise,  it  was  not  diffi- 
cult for  the  monks,  amid  the  general  frenzy,  to  induce 
such  persons  to  become  lay  members  of  the  monasteries, 
and  to  place  their  domains  under  the  protection  of 
those  powerful  institutions  ;  an  advantageous  encum- 
brance which  they  always  assumed  with  obliging  avidity. 


1>0VEETY.  99 

With  such  money-making  devices  and  sharp  prac- 
tices, and  many  others  of  a  similar  nature,  the  mendi- 
cant orders,  united  in  an  avaricious  and  arrogant  con- 
federacy, enjoying  the  protection  of  the  Pope,  and  the 
confidence  and  homage  of  Christendom,  and  released 
from  all  secular  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  seemed, 
while  abjuring  the  possession  of  property  as  a  crime, 
and  professing  poverty  as  a  virtue,  to  be  rapidly  mo- 
nopolizing the  wealth  of  the  world — the  domains  of 
princes,  the  traffic  of  merchants,  and  the  political  power 
of  governments.  Under  such  circumstances  monastic 
opulence,  without  the  intervention  of  a  miracle,  must 
have  prodigiously  increased,  and  their  domains  aug- 
mented to  provinces. 

From  the  fifth  century,  in  every  section  of  Chris- 
tendom, monastery  after  monastery  continued  to  rise, 
generally  constructed  with  stupendous  proportions,  and 
in  sumptuous  style ;  furnished  with  every  species  of 
luxury,  and  polluted  by  every  description  of  vice. 
St.  Bernard,  who,  by  the  assumption  of  the  vow  of 
absolute  poverty,  renounced  a  considerable  private  in- 
heritance, and  who  subsequently  scorned  the  profi'ers  of 
lucrative  dignities,  could,  nevertheless,  by  means  of  his 
monachal  power  and  opulence  erect  ten  monasteries, 
make  nobles  and  Popes  tremble  at  his  authority,  and 
even  kings  submit  to  his  dictation. 

The  Jesuits,  who  enjoyed  all  the  privileges  of  the 
mendicant  and  secular  orders,  excelled  them  both  in 
duplicity  and  rapaciousnes.  Animated  by  a  crafty  and 
unprincipled  zeal  for  the  emolument  of  their  order, 
they  established  mission-houses  among  savage  nations, 
under  the  pretext  of  civilizing  them  and  saving  their 


100  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

souls.  But  this  specious  pretext  was  but  a  pious  mask, 
under  which  was  concealed  an  infamous  scheme  of 
swindling  the  natives  abroad  out  of  property,  and 
wheedling  the  devout  at  home  out  of  liberal  donations, 
and  splendid  legacies.  Their  extensive  mission-houses 
were  neither  designed  for  temples  of  devotion,  nor  for 
converting  idolaters;  their  walls  less  frequently  wit- 
nessed the  monks  at  devotion,  than  they  did  at  plotting 
schemes  of  plunder.  Like  ancient  temples,  and  more 
recent  churches,  mosques  and  fairs,  they  were  designed 
as  centres  of  trade  to  facilitate  commercial  transactions ; 
and,  as  they  were  the  grand  resort  of  the  people  for  ex- 
change of  commodities,  they,  like  the  former,  gave  rise 
to  the  numerous  villages,  towns  and  cities,  whose  names 
they  bear.  Pagan  simplicity  has  never  been  a  match 
for  monkish  craft;  and  no  sooner  had  the  gold  and 
gems  of  the  natives  inflamed  the  zeal  and  sharpened 
the  shrewdness  of  the  monks,  than  they  were  wrung 
from  them  by  some  swindling  transaction,  Possess- 
ing the  arts  of  civilized  society,  they  were  enabled 
to  astonish  the  natives  with  miracles,  and  success^ 
fully  to  impose  on  their  ignorance  and  simplicity.  They 
boasted  of  having  induced  multitudes  to  embrace  Chris- 
tianity ;  but  as  their  object  was  not  to  convert  Pagans 
from  idolatry,  but  to  defraud  them  out  of  their  land 
and  gold,  they  were  careful  not  to  offend  them  by  de- 
manding a  renunciation  of  the  practice  of  idolatry,  but 
contented  themselves  with  entreating  their  converts 
simply  to  adore  Christ  and  his  mother  when  worship- 
ing the  images  of  their  gods.  "With  this  ambiguous,  but 
insinuating  modification  of  Christianity,  they  made  for- 
tunes out  of  the  devout  at  home  and  savages  abroad. 


POVERTY.  101 

In  1743,  tills  avaricious  sacerdotal  order  establislied 
a  mission-house  at  the  island  Marti nic[ue ;  and  so  adroitly 
did  they  manage  their  Christianizing  business  opera- 
tions, that  in  a  short  time  they  monopolized  the  trade 
of  that  island,  and  of  the  surrounding  islands.  Their 
success  naturally  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  secular 
merchants;  and  as  they  were  generally  regarded  as 
destitute  of  commercial  honor,  and  unprincipled  in  their 
ambition,  a  formidable  opposition  was  easily  fomented 
against  them.  This  opposition,  apparently  justified  by 
self-preservation,  and  the  necessity  of  inaugurating  a 
more  liberal  and  enlightened  commercial  policy,  im- 
paired to  a  considerable  extent  the  interest  and  popu- 
larity of  the  sacerdotal  establishments.  At  this  stage 
of  their  history,  a  circumstance  occured  which  culmin- 
ated in  their  disgrace.  Two  valuable  cargoes  had  been 
consigned  to  them  by  their  French  correspondents. 
These  cargoes  were  captured  by  the  English,  with 
whom  the  French  were  at  war.  In  conformity  with 
maritime  usage,  the  consignors  demanded  indemnity  of 
the  Jesuits.  The  Jesuits  denied  the  legality  of  the  de- 
mand, and  refused  to  give  the  satisfaction  asked.  An 
appeal  was  consequently  taken  to  the  King  of  France, 
who,  deciding  in  favor  of  the  consignors,  demanded  the 
Jesuits  to  make  the  required  restitution.  But  their 
presumptuous  piety  led  them  to  scorn  his  authority  in 
the  same  temper  in  which  they  had  rejected  the  prayer 
of  his  mercantile  subjects.  This  insolent  and  treason- 
able conduct  led  the  king  to  investigate  the  principles 
of  their  order ;  and  finally  to  abrogate  it  in  all  the 
states  of  France,  as  a  political  organization  projected  for 
the  acquisition  of  power  and  riches. 
9* 


102  HONASTIC  YOW   OF 

By  means  of  tlieir  Cliristianizing  establisliinents  in 
Paraguay  and  Uruguay,  the  Jesuits  ruled  the  natives 
with  despotic  power,  and  acquired  an  immense  amount 
of  wealth.  In  1750,  Spain  having  by  a  commercial 
treaty  ceded  to  Portugal  seven  districts  of  these  do- 
mains, the  monks  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  fourteen 
thousand  men,  compelled  the  contracting  nations  to  an- 
nul the  treaty ;  but  an  attempt  being  afterwards  made 
to  assassinate  the  King  of  Portugal,  the  government 
declared  the  order  of  the  Jesuits  to  be  a  treasonable 
organization,  and  confiscated  all  their  posssessions  in 
the  dominion.  The  order  of  the  Catholic  Knights,  in- 
corporated for  the  defense  and  propagation  of  the  true 
faith,  by  the  force  of  arms,  like  the  monks,  rapaciously 
acquired  an  incredible  amount  of  riches  w^hile  under 
the  solemnest  obligation  to  maintain  a  perpetual  con- 
dition of  absolute  poverty.  These  holy  organizations 
were  exclusively  military ;  the  sword  Avas  the  only  ar- 
gument they  used.  The  Knights  of  St.  John,  with  the 
vow  of  poverty  on  their  lips,  but  with  the  sword  of  con- 
quest in  their  hand,  amassed  such  extensive  domains, 
that  they  gave  their  chief  an  annual  salary  of  one 
million  guilders.  The  Knights  Templars,  while  they 
vowed  absolute  poverty,  acquired  by  arms,  forced  loans, 
donations,  bequests  and  other  means,  such  a  prodigious 
amount  of  wealth  that  they  erected  nine  thousand  vast 
and  princely  palaces,  each  enriched  with  extensive 
territory,  and  all  powerful  enough  to  maintain  immu- 
nity from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  savereign  in  whose 
kingdom  they  were  located.  The  Teutonic  Knights, 
while  they  abjured  the  rights  of  property,  and  swore 
never  to  allow  its  possession  to  tarnish  their  sanctity, 


POVERTY.  103 

wrung  from  Sweden  all  tlie  territory  that  extends  from 
the  Oder  along  its  hanks  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  It  is 
reported  by  travellers  that  the  Shaggians,  a  barbarous 
tribe  of  Egypt,  when  meeting  a  foe,  will  exclaim: 
"Peace  be  with  you,"  and  thrust  a  lance  in  his  heart. 
The  wild  mockery  of  these  uncouth  savages  at  avowed 
principles  has  been  far  exceeded  by  the  conduct  and 
profession  of  the  monachal  and  military  orders  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  whose  vows  were  meant  for  imposition, 
and  whose  life  was  a  scene  of  perjury. 

By  the  aid  of  magnificent  revenues,  the  various 
orders  of  the  religious  paupers  were  enabled  success- 
fully to  negotiate  for  the  most  lucrative  dignities  of  the 
church,  and  enjoyed  the  fairest  prospects  of  becoming 
either  bishops,  cardinals  or  popes,  and  of  obtaining  the 
luxurious  indolence,  idolatrous  reverence,  and  impious 
adulation  they  secured.  The  hypocritical  devices  of 
the  ancient  and  modern  Brahmins,  of  the  Hindoo  and 
Mohammedan  monks,  and  of  the  priests  and  prophets  of 
ancient  Pagan  nations  have,  in  Christian  countries, 
where  no  prejudice  pleads  in  their  favor,  and  where 
their  origin  and  claims  are  candidly  investigated,  been 
justly  exposed  to  the  scoffs  and  contempt  of  common 
sense ;  and  it  is  possible  that  under  the  same  circum- 
stances, the  monks,  priests,  ceremonies  and  dogmas  .of 
Catholicism,  which  resemble  them  as  nearly  as  a  type 
can  its  prototype,  would  sink  to  the  same  level. 

When  we  calmly  reflect  on  the  monastic  institution, 
and  observe  the  financial  principles  on  which  it  is  organ- 
ized, the  variety  and  prodigious  traffic  which  has  dis- 
tinguished its  career,  the  immense  treasure  and  domains 
it  has  acquired  by  fraud  and  artifice,  it  seems  like  some 


104  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

gigantic  financial  corporation,  projected  for  speculating 
in  land,  and  for  making  money  by  the  tricks  of  trade. 
When  we  call  to  mind  the  avarice  by  which  it  has  been 
actuated,  the  duplicity  it  has  practised,  and  the  impo- 
sitions of  which  it  has  been  guilty,  it  appears  to  be  a 
corporation  organized  to  make  money,  regardless  of 
every  maxim  of  justice,  and  every  principle  of  honor. 
When  we  consider  how  basely  it  has  prostituted  its 
privileges  and  immunities ;  becoming  superior  to  law  to 
violate  the  principles  of  rectitude ;  professing  absolute 
indigence  to  demand,  like  a  highwayman,  a  tribute  of 
every  one  it  chanced  to  meet,  if  not  with  a  pistol  in  its 
hand,  yet  with  an  anathema  at  its  disposal  more  dreaded 
by  the  superstitious  than  thousands  of  pistols,  it  looms 
up  before  the  imagination  as  a  corporation  of  outlaws, 
whose  right  is  might,  whose  object  is  money,  and  whose 
profession  is  to  plunder.  When  we  reflect  on  its  pre- 
tention of  vending  for  gold  the  pardon  of  sin,  the  favor 
of  God,  immunity  for  guilt,  and  protection  against  the 
future  retribution  of  heaven,  it  appears  like  a  corpora- 
tion of  fiends  which  arrogates  the  ^prerogatives  of  deity, 
traffic  in  the  hearts  and  souls  of  men,  sport  with  their 
hojDes  and  fears,  and  merchandise  heaven  and  hell,  time 
and  eternity.  And  when  we  remember  that  the  Koman 
Catholic  Church  has  incorporated  these  infamous  relig- 
ious orders  in  her  constitution,  and  has  officially  pro- 
nounced them  to  be  her  most  useful  members,  and  has 
thus  sanctioned  and  made  her  own,  all  their  duplicity, 
all  their  rapacity,  all  their  swindling  operations,  all 
their  highway  robbery,  and  all  their  profanity,  immo- 
rality and  blasphemy,  she  seems  like  some  black  and 
midnight  monster,  dripping  with  human  gore,  an  em- 


POVERTY.  105 

bodiment  of  every  deformity,  an  incarnation  of  every 
loathsome,  hideous  and  unsightly  demon,  and  a  just  rep- 
resentation of  the  character  and  principles  of  the  arch- 
fiend. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Monastic  Vow  of  Celibacy. 

Nature  has  organized  man  for  the.  conjugal  union. 
She  has  endowed  him  with  powers  adapted  to  its 
requirements ;  with  passions  that  aspire  after  its  plea- 
sures and  benefits,  and  with  sensibilities  that  can  be 
gratified  only  by  the  performance  of  its  obligations. 
By  the  reciprocal  relations,  and  the  amiable  intercourse 
which  it  establishes  between  the  sexes,  it  furnishes  an 
attractive  means  of  mutual  improvement,  refining  the 
grossness  of  the  sensual  propensities,  and  developing 
the  noblest  graces  of  the  human  character.  By  blend- 
ing masculine  boldness  with  feminine  delicacy,  it  takes 
rudeness  from  the  one,  and  imparts  energy  to  the  other  ; 
and  thus  contributes,  in  an  eminent  degree,  to  the  form- 
ation of  that  equanimity  of  character  which  is  the 
happy  medium  between  extremes,  and  of  that  agree- 
able association  of  strength  and  urbanity  which  is  best 
fitted  to  cope  with  the  difficulties  .ncident  to  life. 

By  an  alliance  of  mutual  affection  and  interests  for 
life,  it  secures  their  highest  development,  and  the  most 
complete  and  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  their  benefits. 
It  identifies  the  honor  and  interests  of  parents  and 
children,  securing  affectionate  protectors  for  helpless 
infancy,  faithful  guardians  for  inexperienced  youth,  and 
interested  tutors  for  fitting  the  rising  generation  for 
the  useful  and  noble  stations  of  society ;  and  while  it 
thus  provides  for   children,  it  rewards    the  solicitude 


CELIBACY.  107 

of  parents  with  a  shelter  in  adversity,  a  support  in  de- 
clining age,  and  a  name  in  posterity. 

But  while  such  are  the  inducements  of  marriage,  yet 
a  regard  to  personal  interest  and  happiness  might  deter 
a  considerate  person  from  assuming  its  obligations,  when 
either  a  suitable  companion  has  not  been  found,  or 
pecuniary  resources  are  insufficient  to  meet  the  domestic 
demands  in  a  satisfactory  manner.  Pecuniary  compe- 
tency and  similarity  of  taste  and  disposition  are  requi- 
sites indispensable  to  connubial  felicity.  Without  them 
marriage  w^ould  be  a  source  of  privation,  difficulty  and 
alienation  ;  and  family  a  painful  encumbrance.  When, 
therefore,  fortune  has  withheld  these  essentials  of  con- 
jugal happiness,  celibacy,  in  either  sex,  is  more  honor- 
able than  matrimony. 

But  to  stifle  the  instincts  that  prompt  to  this  union, 
and  ungraciously  to  spurn  the  incalculable  benefits  it 
proffers,  unrestrained  by  any  prudential  consideration, 
is  to  violate,  without  motive,  the  laws  of  human  happi- 
ness, and  neglect  the  fulfilment  of  the  most  important 
design  of  the  organism  of  man.  An  act  so  unnatural 
is,  perhaps,  seldom  contemplated,  except  under  extreme 
mental  depression,  or  under  the  singular  delusions  of 
which  religious  fanaticism  is  so  prolific.  Disappointed 
love,  reverses  of  fortune,  or  the  hope  of  becoming  in- 
sensible to  the  wants  of  humanity  by  acquiring  super- 
natural perfection,  has  sometimes  induced  the  weak  and 
superstitious  to  assume  the  monastic  vow  of  perpetual 
celibacy.  The  motive  of  such  conduct  has  always  ori- 
ginated in  emotion ;  and  though  emotion  is  alwaya  sin- 
cere, it  is  always  fluctuating.  A  cloud  that  obscures 
the  sun  and  casts  a  gloom  over  earth,  soon  passes  away, 


108  MONASTIC   VOW    OF 

leaving  the  former  in  its  natural  brightness,  and  the  lat- 
ter in  its  usual  attractiveness.  Not  less  ephemeral  is 
the  mental  gloom  which  adversity  or  superstition  may 
throw  over  the  human  mind.  When  the  energies  of 
acquisitiveness  have  been  prostrated  by  repeated  pecu- 
niary misfortunes  ;  when  the  warmth  of  ambition  has 
been  chilled  by  the  wounds  of  reputation ;  when  the 
currents  of  love  have  been  frozen  by  the  cold  breath  of 
disappointment;  the  desolated  heart  may  feel  that  its 
struggle  for  subsistence  is  vain,  that  its  hopes  of  dis- 
tinction have  perished,  and  that  its  ties  of  love  are 
broken  forever.  But  these  despondent  sensations  are 
ephemeral ;  they  are  the  results  of  a  temporary  repose 
of  passions  which  are  rooted  in  the  constitution  of  our 
nature,  and  which  can  be  destroyed  only  with  our  being. 
Though  despair  may  for  a  time  throw  a  wintry  gloom 
over  the  mind,  yet  hope  will  again  bud  and  bloom, 
avarice  will  again  sigh  for  wealth,  ambition  will  again 
thirst  for  distinction,  love  will  again  yearn  for  com- 
panionship, and  every  passion  resuming  its  natural 
energy  will  again  create  the  emotions  for  which  it  was 
organized,  and  compel  us  to  seek  its  appropriate  gratifi- 
cation in  the  social,  conjugal,  or  political  relations  which 
subsist  in  society. 

This  revulsion  is  inevitable.  It  is  as  certain  as  the 
subsidence  of  a  tempestuous  torrent  after  having  ex- 
hausted its  energy,  into  its  ordinary  peaceful  roll.  As 
all  emotions  are  ephemeral,  so  must  be  all  the  vows  and 
resolutions  which  they  generate.  Each  day  brings 
with  it  new  and  unexpected  events,  which  abrogate  or 
modify  the  emotions  and  resolves  which  the  circum- 
stances of  the  preceding  day  had  suggested ;  nay,  more, 


CELIBACY.  109 

the  antithetical  emotions  thus  created  are  always  pro- 
portionably  strong  to  those  which  they  supplant.  Hence? 
vows  assumed  by  any  person  under  extraordinary  men- 
tal excitement,  will  be  repudiated  when  he  is  under 
extraordinary  mental  depression ;  and  obligations  as- 
sumed under  either  of  these  conditions  of  mind,  will 
be  found  inconsistent  with  the  ordinary  obligations  of 
life,  when  that  usual  current  of  thought  and  emotion 
shall  set  in,  which  always  flows  in  harmony  with  human 
reason,  philosophy  and  happiness,  and  the  regular  course 
of  things.  If  w^hen  this  condition  shall  supervene ;  if 
when  hope  shall  succeed  to  despair,  and  reason  and  re- 
flection to  impulse  and  fanaticism,  and  when  all  the 
passions  and  powers  of  our  nature  shall  resume  their 
natural  operation — if  then,  we  shall  have  placed  our- 
selves by  any  mistake,  however  innocently  committed, 
in  a  situation  where  we  cannot  respond  to  the  demands 
of  our  nature,  we  will  find  that  we  have  doomed  our- 
selves to  perpetual  misery. 

Nor  will  any  degree  of  purity  or  sanctity  of  motive 
arrest  the  evils  of  mistaken  conduct.  Nature  is  inex- 
orable ;  she  inflicts  punishment  on  the  violators  of  her 
laws  without  regard  to  the  motives  by  which  they  have 
been  actuated.  She  admits  no  apology ;  she  knows  no 
forgiveness.  Neither  tears  nor  penitence  can  mitigate 
her  vengeance  ;  neither  pleas  of  conscientious  motives, 
nor  of  ignorance  of  her  ordinations,  can  soften  the 
rigor  of  her  justice.  Although  the  desire  of  perfection 
is  a  natural  and  noble  one,  yet  she  has  established  laws 
by  which  alone  it  is  to  be  obtained,  and  punishes  the 
aggressors  of  them  with  deformity  and  imbecility. 
These  laws  are  intelligible.  Human  perfection  clearly 
10 


110  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

compreliends  the  perfect  development  of  all  the  physical, 
mental  and  moral  powers  of  man.  Exercise  is  the  only 
means  by  which  these  faculties  can  be  developed.  The 
system  of  exercise  adapted  to  the  attainment  of  this 
end  must  embrace  a  judicious  employment  of  every 
acuity  belonging  to  the  human  organism ;  allowing 
none  to  depreciate  by  indolence ;  none  to  become  ener- 
vated by  incessant  or  overstrained  exertion ;  but  to 
maintain  all  in  that  natural  and  reasonable  condition  in 
which,  while  they  are  alternately  relieved  they  are  mu- 
tually strengthened.  By  the  discipline  of  such  a  sys- 
tem of  exercise  knowledge  will  gradually  become  the 
foundation  of  reason,  judgment  the  guide  of  fancy, 
conscience  the  controller  of  the  passions,  the  vital  or- 
gains  the  recuperator  of  the  physical  and  mental  facul- 
ties ;  a  healthy  reciprocity  and  modifying  action  will  be 
maintained  between  all  the  powers,  and  that  equili- 
brium engendered  which  is  peace ;  that  condensation 
which  is  energy ;  and  that  perfection  which  is  essential 
to  genius. 

The  monastic  vow  of  perpetual  celibacy  is  clearly  un- 
favorable to  this  general  exercise  of  the  powers  of  hu- 
man nature.  It  permits  the  exercise  of  only  a  limited 
number  of  these  powers,  and  thereby  obtrudes  an  insu- 
perable obstacle  to  the  full  development  of  the  human 
character.  It  stimulates  those  which  it  cultivates  to 
incessant  activity,  and  thereby  distorts  and  deforms  their 
organisms  by  an  abnormal  development.  It  fetters  in 
inactivity  the  bulk  of  the  human  faculties,  and  thereby 
lessens  the  number  and  variety  of  the  natural  sources 
of  the  pleasures  of  life.  It  reduces  activity  in  the 
vital  system,  and  thereby  saps  the  fundamenta'    trength 


CELIBACY.  Ill 

of  the  whole  organization,  engendering  those  physical 
and  moral  diseases,  which  render  life  joyless,  and  death 
often  the  only  remedy.  It  prohibits  the  exercise  of 
those  faculties  by  which  alone  the  design  of  the  human 
organism  can  be  accomplished,  and  permits  but  a  few  of 
them  to  be  exercised  in  order  to  attain  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection.  It  would  dry  up  the  springs  of  a 
river,  in  order  to  increase  the  volume  of  its  current ;  it 
would  weaken  the  foundation  of  an  edifice,  in  order  to 
protect  it  against  the  shocks  of  earthquakes.  But  wheth- 
er these  ecclesiastical  absurdities  are  more  insane  than 
idiotical,  we  respectfully  submit  to  the  acumen  of  the 
OEcumenical  Council,  whenever  it  shall  resume  its 
session  at  Eome. 

The  monastic  vow  of  celibacy,  is  as  weak  in  its  funda- 
mental principles,  as  it  is  absurd  in  its  discipline.  It  is 
founded  on  the  ascetic  delusion,  that  the  sensual  passions 
are  evils;  and  that  human  perfection  and  happiness 
consist  in  the  attainment  of  a  passive  state  of  mind,  un- 
troubled by  desire,  thought  or  action.  But  this  is  a 
Brahminical  absurdity,  rusted  to  its  core  by  tha  abra- 
sion of  ages.  Fven  if  the  propensities  were  evils,  yet 
wisdom  w^ould  teach  us  that  as  they  are  a  result  of  our 
organism,  they  should  be  regulated ;  especially  if  by  a 
judicious  regulation,  they  can  be  made  to  administer  to 
the  pleasures  of  existence.  But  they  are  not  evils  ;  on 
the  contrary,  they  are  unmeasurable  benefits.  If  they 
are  ever  tormentors,  it  is  when  prudence  has  not  regu- 
lated their  gratification,  or  when  abuse  has  made  their 
cravings  unnatural.  If  they  are  ever  sources  of  dis- 
ease, it  is  when  they  are  exercised  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  human  nature.     If  they  ever  become  impotent 


112  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

in  the  production  of  pleasure,  it  is  when  their  possess-* 
ors  have  become  gluttons,  sots,  debauchees,  misers,  or 
some  similar  compound  of  human  depravity.  But 
when  the  animal  passions  are  refined  by  knowledge, 
chastened  by  virtue,  directed  by  reason,  governed  by 
conscience,  and  exercised  with  a  considerate  regard  to 
the  integrity  of  the  other  powers,  they  become  sources 
of  pleasure  and  vigor,  incentives  to  industry  and  enter- 
prise, and  eminently  contribute  towards  the  advance- 
ment of  the  perfection  and  happiness  of  our  being. 

Another  fundamental  error  of  the  vow  of  celibacy, 
is  the  delusion  that  man  may  by  means  of  solitude  and 
resolution  arrest  the  natural  promptings  of  the  propen- 
sities. The  propensities  are  constituted  by  nature 
essential  portions  of  our  being;  and  accordingly  we 
must  cati-y  them  with  us  into  whatever  solitude  we  may 
retire  ;  aud  as  their  emotions  are  naturally  irrepres- 
sible, their  powers  must  be  felt  under  whatever  obliga- 
tion we  may  assume.  Vows,  resolutions  and  solitude 
are  as  incapable  of  arresting  the  progress  of  the  pas- 
sions, as  they  are  of  stopping  the  pulsations  of  the 
heart.  Amid  the  deepest  silence  and  solitude  they  will 
still  yearn  for  expression,  and  yearn  the  more  the 
deeper  is  the  stillness.  Amid  the  bustle  and  tumult  of 
the  world  they  are  excited  by  innumerable  different 
objects ;  their  attention  is  divided  among  a  variety  of 
attractions ;  and  each  finds  its  appropriate  gratification 
constantly  offered  to  its  taste.  But  in  solitude  there  is 
every  thing  to  concentrate,  and  nothing  to  divide  their 
power ;  every  thing  to  inflame,  and  nothing  to  appease 
their  appetites ;  and  consequently,  under  such  circum- 
stances, their  powers  must  be  the  most  ungovernable, 


CELIBACY.       '  113 

and  the  torments  of  their  craving  the  most  unsupport- 
able. 

The  foregoing  observations  were  made  on  the  pre- 
sumption, that  the  vovv'  of  perpetual  chastity  was  as- 
sumed by  the  Catholic  orders  with  sincere  intentions  of 
conforming  to  its  requirements ;  but  this  w^as  not  always 
the  case.  "Whatever  sincerity  or  sanctity  may  have 
mingled,  in  some  cases,  with  the  motives  that  prompted 
its  assumption,  neither  monks  nor  nuns,  nor  priests,  nor 
bishops,  nor  popes,  have  in  general  furnished  a  reason- 
able amount  of  evidence  in  favor  of  their  chastity. 

The  natural  and  efficient  regulator  of  the  animal 
passions  is  marriage.  The  conjugal  union,  judiciously 
formed,  is  invaluable  to  man,  but  almost  indispens- 
able to  woman.  Her  organization  preeminently  qual- 
ifies her  for  its  conditions  and  relations.  The  sen- 
sitiveness peculiar  to  her  nervous  system,  obliges  her  to 
shrink  from  the  rude  battle  of  public  life  ;  her  weakness 
instructs  her  in  the  importance  of  placing  herself  under 
the  guardianship  of  the  more  muscular  power  of  man, 
which  is  noblest  employed  when  it  best  protects  the 
weak ;  and  her  characteristic  instincts  and  capacities 
lead  her  to  seek  her  chief  employment  and  happiness 
in  the  modest  retirement  of  domestic  life,  where  she 
finds  the  temple  of  which  she  alone  is  priestess;  the 
idols  which  excite  her  purest  devotion  ;  the  altars  on 
which  she  lavishes  her  choicest  gifts  ;  and  where,  in  ad- 
ministering her  sacred  profession,  in  dispensing  instruc- 
tion to  her  children,  care  to  her  household,  and  conso- 
lation to  the  sick  and  dying,  her  true  dignity  and 
beauty  acquires  the  deepest  enchantment.  Whatever 
the  mental  and  personal  charms  of  a  female  may  be, 
10* 


114  MONASTIC   VOW   OF  - 

the  true  excellence  of  her  character  can  never  be  seen 
or  appreciated,  except  in  the  practice  of  the  amiable 
virtues  which  constitute  the  wife  and  the  mother.  This, 
woman  knows;  this  she  feels;  and  to  obtain  this  end 
the  rights  of  her  nature,  and  the  interests  of  society, 
concur  in  authorizing  her  to  adopt  every  available 
means.  Yet,  notwithstanding  these  plain  facts,  the  Cath- 
olic Church  has  the  unpardonable  presumption  to  pro- 
nounce a  curse  on  her,  if  she  should  prefer  a  union  so 
essential  to  her  happiness  and  usefulness  to  a  state  of 
perpetual  virginity.  Every  time  her  common  sense 
teaches  her  to  say  that  marriage  is  preferable  to  virgin- 
ity, this  religious  monster,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trin- 
ity and  all  the  saints  and  angels,  answers  "  Let  her  be 
accursed."  Every  time  her  nature  prompts  her  to  say, 
that,  to  be  joined  in  marriage  is  more  blessed  than  to 
remain  in  a  state  of  virginity,  this  monster  in  horror  at 
the  profane  and  unorthodox  expressions,  responds,  "  Let 
her  be  accursed."  Hear  it  from  the  lips  of  the  holy 
mother  herself: 

"  Whosoever  shall  say,  that  the  church  could  not  in- 
stitute impediments  annulling  marriage,  or  that  in 
instituting  them  she  has  erred,  let  him  be  acursed." 

"Whosoever  shall  say,  that  the  marriage  state  is 
preferable  to  a  state  of  virginity,  or  celibacy,  or  that  it 
is  not  more  blessed  to  remain  in  a  state  of  virginity  or 
celibacy,  than  to  be  joined  in  matrimony,  let  him  be 
accursed." 

"  Whosoever  shall  affirm,  that  matrimonial  causes  do 
not  belong  to  the  ecclesiastical  judges,  let  him  be  ac- 
cursed."    (  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Trent ). 

Atrocious  as  is  this  decree,  it  expresses  not  the  full 


CELIBACY,  115 

measure  of  Catholic  arrogance.  For  while  with  pal- 
pable inconsistency,  the  church  solemnizes  among  Cath- 
olics the  rites  which  she  anathematizes  them  for  prefer- 
ing,  she  declares  that  all  those  whose  marriage  cere- 
monies have  not  been  celebrated  according  to  her 
fantastic  requirements,  are  living  in  a  state  of  "  shame- 
ful concubinage.""  It  would  seem  that  by  consummat- 
ing the  union  which  she  holds  men  and  women  accursed 
for  desiring,  she  incurs  on  her  own  soul  the  curse  she 
pronounces  on  others.  She  requires  no  fee  for  her  mat- 
rimonial services,  but  accepts  marriage  presents^  which 
may  perhaps  have  softened  her  malignity  to  this  product 
of  civilization  with  regard  to  Catholics ;  but  non-Cath- 
olics who  do  not  conciliate  her  holy  aversion  to  it  by 
such  presents,  she  pronounces  them  profligates,  their 
wives  prostitutes,  and  their  children  bastards.  Hear 
this  from  the  lips  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 

"Marriage  cannot  be  given,  unless  there  be,  one  and 
at  the  same  time  a  sacrement,  consequently  that  any 
other  union  between  man  and  woman  among  Christians, 
made  in  virtue  of  what  civil  law  soever,  is  nothing  else 
than  a  shameful  and  miserable  concubinage,  so  often 
condemned  by  the  church."  (  Allocution  on  the  State 
of  Affairs  in  New  Grenada  ), 

So  in  the  j  udgment  of  the  present  Pope,  the  non-Cath- 
olics in  the  United  States  consist  of  strumpets  and 
bastards.  According  to  the  principles  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  thus  officially  enunciated,  every  person,  the 
marriage  rites  of  whose  parents  have  not  been  per- 
formed by  a  Catholic  priest,  is  an  illegitimate  offspring 
divested  of  all  legal  right  to  inherit  property  of  his 
parents.     If  the  church  shall  ever  gain  in  America  the 


116  MONASTIC  VOW  OF 

numerical  strengtB.  for  wliicli  she  is  striving,  what  will 
be  the  consequence  to  non-Catholics  ?  Will  she  declare 
them  legitimate,  or  respect  their  property  titles  ?  Have 
not  her  priests  made  this  land  ring  with  the  assertion, 
that  Infidels  and  Protestants  have  no  right  where  Cath- 
olicism is  triumphant. 

But  who  is  she  that  has  the  audacity  to  proclaim  such 
principles?  A  church,  which  has  been  dripping  with 
the  blood  of  innocence  for  ages,  yet  is  thirsting  for  more. 
Who  are  they  that  prate  about  chastity?  A  body  of 
the  most  corrupt,  unprincipled,  and  licentious  priests 
that  ever  disgraced  the  name  of  religion.  The  cold 
dissoluteness  of  the  Catholic  orders  is  not  only  undeni- 
able, but  it  is  even  frightful.  Had  history  been  silent, 
and  the  real  conduct  of  Catholic  priests,  and  the  inte- 
rior of  Catholic  nunneries  remained  a  profound  secret, 
yet,  an  ordinary  knowledge  of  human  nature  would 
have  warranted  the  suspicion  that  the  priests  were 
not  models  of  chastity,  nor  the  nunneries  asylums  of 
innocence.  But  history  has  not  been  silent ;  she  has 
spoken  distinctly,  and  spoken  often.  A  nun  escaped 
from  her  prison-house,  or  a  priest  not  yet  steeled  by 
hypocrisy  to^  all  the  pleadings  of  virtue,  or  who  was 
disgusted  beyond  endurance  at  the  corruption  that  fes- 
ters in  the  heart  of  the  Catholic  Church,  has  furnished 
history  with  startling  records,  and  raised  the  sacred 
veil,  that  the  superstitious  might  behold  the  horrible 
compound  of  duplicity,  lust,  and  murder  which  secretly 
pollutes  the  interior  of  the  institutions  which  they  rev- 
erence. But  these  fitful  revelations,  although  appeal- 
ing to  the  noblest  sympathies  of  mankind,  have  seldom 
produced  an  effect  equal  to  the  exigency.     Like  bursts 


CELIBACY.  117 

of  unexpected  thunder,  they  have  startled  for  a  moment, 
but  soon  rumbled  into  silence  and  forgetfulness. 

Such  is  the  general  infatuation,  that  people  seldom 
question  that  around  which  the  sanctions  of  religion 
are  thrown,  and  when  they  do  the  doubt  is  soon  obliter- 
ated. They  will  reverently  bow  to  a  priest  without 
thinking  it  is  possible  that  under  the  guise  of  his  chaste 
and  holy  profession,  avarice,  lust  and  murder  may  reign 
supreme.  They  will  heedlessly  pass  a  nunnery  without 
thinking  how  many  broken  hearts  may  there  be  hope- 
lessly imprisoned ;  how  many  gifted  and  accomplished 
females  may  there  be  pining  in  anguish  and  despair, 
who,  while  they  sought  an  abode  of  unsullied  chastity, 
found  themselves  entrapped  in  a  den  of  infamy,  to  be 
profaned  by  holy  confessors  !  But  reluctantly  as  char- 
ity would  believe  these  statements,  they  are  substanti- 
ated beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt  or  denial,  by  the 
records  of  Catholic  authority  of  the  highest  order. 

An  insight  into  the  mysteries  of  Catholicism,  and  the 
mode  by  which  priests  conceal  from  publicity  their  acts 
of  seduction  and  adultery,  may  be  learned  from  the 
following  extract  from  Hogan's  "Auricular  Confession." 
"  The  secular  orders,"  says  he,  "  are  composed  chiefly 
of  parish  priests  and  their  curates,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
hear  their  parishioners.  The  orders  of  regulars  are  com- 
posed of  friars,  who  are  subdivided  into  several  minor 
orders,  and  who  have  no  particular  duties  to  dis- 
charge, unless  especially  deputed  to  do  so  by  the  bishop, 
or  the  deputy  of  the  diocese  into  which  they  may  be 
divided.  It  is  so  managed  by  the  secular  priests,  that 
whenever  they  fail  in  seducing  their  penitents,  and  are 
detected  by  them  that  one  of  those  friars  shall  immedi- 


118  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

ately  be  at  hand  to  hear  the  confessions  of  all  such 
females,  and  forgive  their  sins,  on  condition  that  they 
shall  never  reveal  to  moral  being  the  thoughtless  pecca- 
dillos of  their  parish  priest,  who  for  the  moment  forgot 
himself,  and  whose  tears  of  penitence  now  moisten  the 
ground  on  which  he  walks."  (  Auric.  Confess,  vol.  ii. 
p.  168  ). 

The  adaptation  of  the  confessional  to  prepare  the  way 
for  seduction  and  adultery  may  be  comprehended  by 
the  following  extract  from  the  '  Synopsis  of  Popery"  by 
the  same  author.  "  Do  any  of  these  families,"  asks  he, 
"  know  the  questions  which  a  priest  puts  to  their  fam- 
ilies at  the  confessional  ?  Do  husbands  know  the  ques- 
tions which  priests  put  to  their  wives  at  the  confession  ? 
....  Fathers,  mothers,  guardians  and  husbands  fancy 
to  yourself  the  most  indelicate,  immodest,  libidinous 
questions  which  the  most  immoral  and  profligate  mind 
can  conceive,  —  fancy  those  ideas  put  into  plain  lan- 
guage, and  that  by  way  of  questions  and  answers,  and 
you  will  then  have  a  faint  conception  of  the  conversa- 
tion which  takes  place  between  a  priest  and  your 
hitheito  pure  daughter.  If  after  two  or  three  examina- 
tions, in  that  sacred  tribunal,  they  still  continue  vir- 
tuous, they  are  rare  examples."  ( Synopsis,  p.  170, 
171). 

While  the  Catholic  Church  imposes  on  the  priests  and 
monks  the  vow  of  celibacy,  it  accords  them  the  priv- 
ilege of  acting  licentiously  with  impunity.  In  the  life 
of  Bishop  Scipio  de  Eicci,  written  by  an  eminent  Cath- 
olic, the  practice  of  the  church  in  allowing  bishops  and 
priests  to  keep  concubines,  while  it  forbids  them  to 
marry  under  pain  of  excommunication,  is  asserted  and 


CELIBACY.  119 

defended.  The  Council  of  Toledo  passed  a  canon  for- 
bidding priests  to  keep  more  than  one  concubine  in 
public.  William  Hogan  asserts  that  every  priest  keeps 
a  concubine,  and  every  teacher  in  a  school  attached  to 
a  Catholic  nunnery,  has  been  seduced  by  her  teacher. 
Chamancis  says :  "  The  adultery,  obscenity  and  impiety 
of  the  priests  are  beyond  description.  St.  Chrysostom 
thinks  the  number  of  them  that  will  be  saved,  bears  a 
very  small  proportion  to  those  who  will  be  damned. 
Cardinal  Oonpaggio  asserts  that  "  the  priest  who  marries 
commits  a  more  grievous  sin  than  if  he  kept  many  con- 
cubines." Pope  Paul  protected  houses  of  ill-fame,  and 
acquired  great  riches  by  selling  them  licenses.  The 
Council  of  Augsburg  ordered  that  all  suspected  females 
should  be  driven  by  whips  from  the  dwellings  of  the 
clergy,  and  have  their  hair  cut  off.  A  monk  relates 
that  he  once  made  a  contract  with  the  Devil  that  if  he 
w^ould  cease  to  fill  his  mind  with  lascivious  ideas,  he 
would  omit  some  prayers  to  the  saints  whose  pictures 
decorated  the  walls  of  his  cloister,  but  upon  communi- 
cating the  substance  of  the  agreement  to  the  bishop,  he 
was  informed  by  him,  that  "  rather  than  abstain  from 
adoring  Christ  and  mother  in  their  holy  images  it  would 
be  better  to  enter  every  brothel  and  visit  every  pros- 
titute in  the  city."  Richard  of  England  replied  to 
Fulk  Nuelly,  the  legate  of  Pope  Innocent  III.,  commis- 
sioned to  blow  the  trumpet  of  another  crusade  :  "  You 
advise  me  to  dismiss  my  three  daughters,  Pride,  Av- 
arice and  Incontinence.  I  bequeath  them  to  the  most 
deserving :  my  pride  to  the  Knights  Templars ;  my  av- 
arice to  the  monks  of  Ciste  ;  and,  my  incontinence  to 
the  prelates."     Pope  John  XXIII.  was  deposed  by  the 


120  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

Council  of  Constance  for  having  committed  seventy 
different  sorts  of  crimes,  among  the  number  of  which 
was  illicit  commerce  with  three  hundred  nuns.  The 
Trappists,  a  menkish  order  of  highway  robbers,  were 
constantly  employed  in  abducting  females,  confining 
them  in  their  monastery,  and  perpetrating  the  most 
atrocious  rapes.  At  the  Council  of  Canterbury  King 
Edgar  declared  that  the  houses  of  the  clergy  were 
nothing  but  brothels.  Petrarch  laments  over  the  fact 
that  the  clergy  at  the  papal  court  were  shamefully 
licentious.  Cardinals  lived  openly  with  their  concu- 
bines ;  and  it  became  a  question  of  etiquette  whether  a 
bishop's  concubine  should  not,  at  the  court  of  His  Holi- 
ness, precede  other  ladies.  Llorente,  chief  secretary 
of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  in  1789,  relates  that  the  in- 
quisitors having  granted  permission  to  the  females  of  a 
certain  locality  to  denounce  their  guilty  confessors,  the 
number  of  priests  denounced  was  so  great  that  thirty 
secretaries  were  employed  for  sixty  days  in  taking  down 
depositions,  and  that  the  profligacy  of  the  clergy  so  far 
exceeded  all  calculation  that  it  was  concluded  to  sus- 
pend investigation,  and  to  destroy  the  records  of  the 
proceedings.  The  extent  and  depth  of  clerical  deprav- 
ity can  never  be  divulged  by  those  who  know  it, 
for  St.  Bernard  asserts  that  "  Bishops  and  priests  com- 
mit acts  in  private  which  it  would  be  scandalous  to  ex- 
press." 

From  nunneries  governed  and  visited  by  priests  of 
such  a  character,  what  is  the  logical  inference  ?  Cha- 
mancis,  an  unimpeachable  Catholic  authority,  answers 
this  question  when  he  says :  "  To  veil  a  woman  in  these 
convents  is  synonymous  to  prostituting  her."     The  sev- 


CELIBACY,  121 

entli  General  Coraicil  of  Nice  prohibited  the  erection  of 
double  convents  for  the  accommodation  of  both  sexes ; 
but  the  prohibition  was  not  regarde^i.  In  Europe 
every  nunnery  has  attached  to  it  a  foundling  asylum ; 
in  the  United  States,  a  grave-yard.  Llorente  relates  a 
curious  account  of  Aquida,  an  abbess  of  a  Carmelite 
nunnery  at  Liemo,  It  appears  that  this  female  had,  on 
several  occasions,  professed  to  have  become  pregnant 
■with  stones,  and  to  have  retired  for  the  purpose  of  giv- 
ing them  birth.  She  had  often  exhibited  her  miracu- 
lous progeny  to  the  credulous,  and  pretended  to  be 
enabled,  by  their  divine  nature,  to  cure  diseases  with 
them.  Her  success  in  working  miracles  by  them  pro- 
cured for  her  the  reputation  of  a  saint.  But  unfortun- 
ate for  her  eventual  canonization,  a  rumor  became  cur- 
rent that  instead  of  having  given  birth  to  stones,  she 
had  given  birth  to  children,  and  strangled  them ;  and 
that  she  had  obliged  the  holy  nuns  under  her  super- 
vision to  practise  the  same  iniquity.  The  informant, 
an  inmate  of  the  nunnery,  pointed  out  the  place  where 
the  murdered  babes  were  buried ;  and  subsequent  exca- 
vation revealed  the  horrible  fact,  that  half  the  tale  of 
blood  had  not  been  told. 

The  following  additional  facts,  related  by  William 
Hogan,  as  having  transpired  under  his  personal  cogniz- 
ance, afford  further  confirmative  proof  of  the  general 
character  of  priests  and  nuns,  and  that  it  remains  as  it 
has  always  been,  in  all  countries,  and  at  all  periods  of 
civilization : 

"  The  Eoman  Catholics  of  Albany,"  says  he,  *'  had, 
about  three  years  previous  to  my  coming  among  them, 
three  Irish  priests  among  them^  occasionally  preaching, 


122  ^  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

but  always  hearing  confessions As  soon  as  I 

got  settled  in  Albany  I  bad,  of  course,  to-  attend  to  the 
duty  of  auricular  confession,  and  in  less  than  two 
months  found  that  the  priests,  during  the  time  they 
were  there,  were  the  fathers  of  between  sixty  and  one 
hundred  children,  besides  having  debauched  many  who 
had  left  the  place  previous  to  their  confinement."  (Au- 
ricular Confession,  p.  46). 

*'  A  short  time  previous  to  my  coming  to  this  coun- 
try, and  soon  after  my  being  installed  as  confessor  in 
the  Pvomish  Church,  I  became  intimately  acquainted 
with  a  family  of  great  respectability.  This  family  con- 
sisted of  a  widowed  father  and  two  daughters,  and  never 
in  my  life  have  I  met  with  more  interesting  young 

ladies   than  the  daughters  were In  less  than 

two  months  after  my  first  visit  to  this  family,  at  their 
peaceful  and  respectable  breakfast  table,  I  observed  the 
chair  which  had  been  usually  occupied  by  the  elder  of 
the  two  ladies  occupied  by  the  younger,  and  that  of  the 
latter  to  be  vacant.  I  inquired  the  cause,  and  was  in- 
formed by  the  father  that  lie  had  just  accompanied  her 
to  the  coach,  which  had  left  that  morning  for  Dublin, 
and  that  she  went  on  a  visit  to  the  Kev.  B.  K.  It  seems 
that  both  of  the  daughters  of  whom  I  have  spoken  went 
to  the  school  attached  to  the  nunnery  of  the  city  of 

— .     The  confessor  whose  duty  it  was  to  hear  the 

duty  of  the  pupils  of  the  institute,  was  one  RbTs.,B.  K., 
a  friar  of  the  Franciscan  order,  who,  as  soon  a?*"i^is 
plans  were  properly  laid,  and  circumstances  rendered 
them  ripe  for  execution,  seduced  the  elder  lady ;  and 
finding  the  fact  could  no  longer  be  concealed,  arranged 
matters  with  a  Dublin  friend She  was  eon- 
fined  at  the  house  of  his  friend,  and  her  illicit  offspring 
given    to  the   managers   of  the   foundling  hospital   in 

Dublin No  sooner  was  this  elder  lady  provided 

for,  than  this  incarnate  demon,  B.  K.,  commenced  the 
seduction  of  the  younger  lady.  He  succeeded,  and 
ruined  her  too.     But  there  was  no  difficulty  in  provid- 


CELIBACY.  123 

ing  for  them.  They  both  became  nuns.  ....  I  saw 
them  in  the  convent  at  Mount  Benedict.  They  were 
great  favorites  of  Bishop  Fenton.  They  were  spoken 
of  by  some  of  the  females  of  Boston  as  models  of 
piety."     (Auricular  Confession,  p.  100-106). 

**  Soon  after  my  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  ...  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  priest  by  the  name  of  0.  S.  called  on  me, 
and  showed  me  letters  of  recommendation  which  he 
had  from  Bishop  T.,  of  Ireland,  and  countersigned  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  New  York,  to  Bishop 
England,  of  South  Carolina.  ....  He  arrived  at 
Charleston,  and  was  well  received  by  Bishop  England. 
There  lived  in  the  parish  to  which  this  reverend  con- 
fessor was  appointed,  a  gentleman  of  respectability  and 
wealth.  Bishop  England  supplied  this  new  missionary 
with  letters  of  strong  recommendation  to  this  gentle- 
man, advising  him  to  place  his  children  under  his 
charge,  assuring  him  they  would  be  brought  up  in  the 

fear  of  God  and  love  of   religion The   Rev. 

Popish  wretch  seduced  the  eldest  daughter  of  his  bene- 
factor, and  the  father  becoming  aware  of  the  fact, 
armed  himself  with  a  case  of  pistols,  and  determined  to 
shoot  the  seducer.  But  there  was  in  the  house  a  good 
Catholic  sevant  [  a  spy  ]  who  advised  the  seducer  to 
fly.  He  soon  arrived  in  Charleston  ;  the  right  reverend 
bishop  understood  his  case,  advised  him  to  go  to  confes- 
sion, and  absolved  him  from  his  sins ;  .  .  .  .  sent  him 

on  his  way  to  New  York His  victim  after  a 

little  time,  having  given  birth  to  a  fine  boy,  goes  to 
confession  herself,  and  sends  the  child  of  sin  to  the  Sis- 
ters of  Charity  residing  in ,  to  be  taken  care  of 

as  a  nullius  filius.  As  soon  as  the  child  was  able  to 
walk  a  Roman  Catholic  lady  adopted  it  as  her  own. 
The  real  mother  of  the  child  soon  removed  to  the  city 

of  ,  told  the  whole  transaction  to   the  Roman 

Catholic  bishop  of  ,  who  knowing  that  she  had 

a  handsome  property,  introduced  her  to  a  highly  res- 
pectable Protestant  gentleman,' who  soon  married  her. 
He  ( the  bishop  )  soon  after  introduced  the  gentleman 


124  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

to  the  Sisters  of  Charity  who  had  provided  for  the  illicit 
ojSFspring  of  the  priest,  concealing  its  parentage,  and 
representing  it  as  having  no  father  living.  The  gentle- 
man was  pleased  with  the  boy,  and  the  holy  bishop 
finally  prevailed  on  him.  and  his  wife  to  adopt  it  as  his 
own."     (Auric.  Confess,  p.  111-115). 

"When  quite  young  and  just  emerging  from  child- 
hood, I  became  acquainted  with  a  Protestant  family,  re- 
siding in  the  neighborhood  of  my  birthplace.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  mother  (a  widow),  and  three  interesting 

children,   two  sons  •  and  one  daughter In  the 

course  of  time  the  sons  grew  up,  and  their  guardian  in 
compliance  with  their  wishes,  and  to  gratify  their  am- 
bition, procured  them  commissions  in  the  army 

As  soon  as  the  sons  left  to  join  their  respective  regi- 
ments, which  were  then  on  the  Continent,  the  mother 

and  daughter  were  much  alone There  was  then 

in  the  neighborhood  only  twenty  miles  from  this  family, 
a  nunnery  of  the  order  of  Jesuits.  To  this  nunnery  was 
attached  a  school  superintended  by  the  nuns  of  that 

order The  mother  yielded,  in  this  case,  to  the 

malign  influence  of  fashion  ;  .  .  .  .  sent  her  beautiful 
daughter,  her  earthly  treasure,  to  the  school  of  these 
nuns.  .  ,  .  .  Soon  after  the  daughter  was  sent  to  school, 
I  entered  the  college  of  Manooth  as  a  theological  stu- 
dent, and  in  due  time  was  ordained  a  Catholic  priest. 

An  interval  of  some  years  passed There  was  a 

large  party  given,  at  which  among  others  I  happened  to 
be  present;  and  there  meeting  with  my  friends  and 
interchanging  the  usual  courtesies  on  such  occasions, 
she  sportingly,  as  I  then  imagined,  asked  me  whether  I 
would   preach  her  reception  sermon,  as  she    intended 

becoming  a  nun  and  taking  the  veil I  heard  no 

more  of  the  aifair  until  about  two  months,  when  I  re- 
ceived a  note  from  her  designating  the  chapel  in  which 

she  expected  my  services On  the  reception  of 

my  friend's  note  a  cold  chill  crept  over  me,  I  antici- 
pated and  trembled,  and  felt  there  must  be  foul  play.  . 
.  .  .     Having  no  connection  with  the  convent  in  which 


CELIBACY.  125 

she  was  immured,  I  did  not  see  her  for  three  m^onths 
following.     At  the  expiration  of  that  time  one  of  the 

lay  sisters  delivered  me  a   note I  found   my 

young  friend  wished  to  see  me  on  something  important, 
I  of  course  lost  no  time  in  calling  on  her,  and  being  a 
priest,  I  was  immediately  admitted ;  but  never  have  I 
forgotten,  never  can  I  forget,  the  melancholy  picture  of 
lost  beauty  and  fallen  humanity  which  met  my  aston- 
ished gaze  in  the  person  of  my  once  beautiful  and  vir- 
tuous friend 'I  sent  for  you,   my  friend,  to 

see  you  once  before  my  death,  ....  I  am  in  the 
family-way  and  must  die,'  " 

He  then  proceeds  to  relate,  that  in  the  course  of  a 
conversation  which  ensued  he  learned  from  the  nun 
that  she  had*  been  seduced  by  her  confessor,  (which  fact 
precluded  any  appeal  or  redress),  and  that  the  lady  ab- 
bess had  proposed  to  procure  an  abortion,  but  that  an 
inmate  had  informed  her  that  the  medicine  which  the 
lady  abbess  would  give  would  contain  poison.  He 
promised  to  renew  his  visit  within  a  few  days  ;  he  did 
80,  but  the  foul  deed  was  done. 

Fiends !  Monsters  1  Boes  not  the  blood  curdle  in 
every  vein  at  such  recitak  ?  Does  not  man  and  woman 
blush  at  their  dishonored  nature  ?  Is  there  a  God  that 
can  allow  the  use  of  his  name  to  sanction  such  execrable 
depravity;  that  can  look  with  indifference  on  women 
avowing  chastity  in  his  name  in  order  to  allure  the 
purest  of  their  sex  to  destruction ;  or  that  can  be  in- 
sensible to  the  imprecations  of  injured  innocence,  pro- 
faned in  holy  houses?  Is  God  a  fiction,  or  divine 
retribution  a  dream  ?  No !  While  a  thunderbolt  leaves 
a  monastery  or  a  nunnery  in  existence,  lightning  has  nq 
avenging  power !  While  either  of  them  exists  man 
11* 


126  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

may  well  douLt  the   existence  of  retributive  justice  in 
human  affairs. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  God  has  delegated  to  society 
the  power  to  punish  offences  committed  against  its  moral 
interests,  and  therefore  does  not  himself  interfere  in  the 
matter.  But  does  society  exercise  its  authority  in  the 
matter  any  more  visibly  than  deity  ?  Society  enacts  laws 
and  prescribes  penalties  respecting  murder,  rape,  broth- 
els, false  imprisonment,  and  irregular  interments.  She 
also  investigates  all  alleged  infractions  of  these  laws, 
except  when  they  involve  the  honor  of  monastic  insti- 
tutions. But  why  are  these  dens  exempted  from  the 
common  law  of  the  land  ?  Why  are  they  allowed  to 
bar  their  doors  against  the  authority  which  all  others 
must  respect?  Why  are  they  allowed  to  organize 
within  a  government  an  independent  government,  nul- 
lifying its  jurisdiction  over  them?  Why  are  not  the 
interior  of  monastic  institutions  constantly  and  thor- 
oughly inspected,  and  the  authority  of  the  common  law 
maintained  over  them?  Is  it  because  they  are  too 
pious  to  violate  the  law  of  the  land  ?  If  this  were  so, 
it  would  do  them  no  harm,  l^ut  much  good,  to  have  the 
fact  week  after  week  attested  by  an  investigating  com- 
mittee composed  of  their  opponents.  But  is  not  the 
contrary  the  fact  ?  Do  they  not  deprive  their  inmates 
of  personal  liberty  ?  Do  they  not  imprison  them  in 
dungeons  ?  Do  they  not  punish  them  ?  Do  they  not 
inflict  on  them  barbarous  chastisements  ?  Are  they  not 
sacerdotal  brothels?  Has  not  every  age  and  country 
given  its  testimony  to  show  that  kidnapped  men  and 
women  have  been  imprisoned  for  life  in  their  cells ; 
that  there  nuns  have  been  poisoned,  abortions  procured, 


CELIBACY.  127 

"babes  murdered,  women  outraged  by  priests,  and  every 
law,  human  or  divine  violated  with  impunity  ? 

Are  these  sensational  declamations  ?  Would  for  the 
credit  of  human  nature  they  were.  No !  They  are 
the  true  records  of  monastic  history,  alleged  by  kings 
and  statesmen,  proved  before  councils,  and  acknowledged 
by  monks,  nuns,  priests,  pishops,  and  popes.  With 
such  an  array  of  evidence  before  society,  why  does  it 
allow  institutions  among  it  where  every  crime  tnay  be 
committed  secretly,  and  with  impunity  ?  Why  do 
not  grand  juries,  who  visit  other  jails,  penitentiaries, 
and  asylums,  inspect  also  the  more  secret  and  sus- 
picious nunneries  ? 

We  have  now  described  the  nature  and  consequences 
of  the  monastic  vow  of  celibacy.  This  obligation  is 
opposed  to  the  nature,  and  defeats  the  object  of  the  hu- 
man organism.  It  extinguishes  conjugal,  filial,  and 
parental  affection.  It  severs  the  ties  that  bind  the  in- 
terests of  society  together.  It  injures  both  the  present 
and  the  future,  by  abrogating  their  mutual  connection. 
It  strikes  at  the  root  of  national  greatness,  by  arresting 
the  tide  of  population.  It  degrades  the  dignity  of  the 
community,  by  increasing  the  number  of  illegitimate 
children.  It  wars  against  marriage,  the  noblest  incen- 
tive to  social  refinement  and  civilization  ;  the  basis  of 
woman's  hope  and  happiness;  the  impulse  and  gratifi- 
cation of  her  pride  of  family,  love  of  parental  control, 
and  desire  to  live  in  posterity.  It  anathematizes  wo- 
man's purest  aspirations,  and  man's  holiest  ties.  It 
converts  the  ardor  of  chastity  into  snares  for  its  seduc- 
tion. It  sanctifies  prostitution  and  adultery.  It  vio- 
lates the  law  of  the  land.     It  erects  in  the  most  magni- 


128  MONASTIC   VOW   OF  CELIBACY. 

ficent  parts  of  a  city  its  spacious  brothels,  with,  massive 
walls,  secret  doors,  false  floors,  guarded  windows,  grated 
cloisters,  inaccessible  to  the  inspection  of  law,  but  acces- 
sible at  all  hours  of  night  or  day  by  priests.  Within 
these  wails  it  allures  beauty,  virtue,  and  talent,  and 
while  pretending  to  fit  them  for  the  society  of  infinite 
purity,  betrays  them  into  the  power  of  unprincipled 
priests,  and  imprisons  them  in  eternal  seclusion,  where 
no  groan  can  meet  the  public  ear,  where  they  can  never 
tell  the  story  of  their  wrong,  nor  appeal  to  a  heart  for 
sympathy,  nor  to  a  law  for  redress. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Monastic  Vow  of  Unconditional  Obedience. 

Another  vow  which  w^as  universally  assumed  by  the 
religious  orders,  was  the  vow  of  unconditional  obe- 
dience. By  the  obligation  of  this  vow  the  members  of 
the  convents  were  subjected  to  the  absolute  authority 
of  the  superiors ;  the  superiors  to  the  absolute  au- 
thority of  the  generals ;  the  generals  to  the  absolute 
authority  of  the  pope.  The  authority  of  these  holy 
officials  strongly  resembled  that  of  the  oriental  despot, 
who,  on  being  informed  by  his  general  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  build  the  bridge  over  the  river,  as  he  had 
ordered,  replied :  "  I  inquired  not  of  thee  whether  it 
was  impossible  or  not;  I-commanded  thee  to  build  it; 
if  thou  failest  thou  shalt  be  strangled."  Accordingly, 
at  the  mandate  of  a  superior  a  subordinate  was  obliged 
to  go  on  any  errand,  for  any  purpose,  criminal  or  not, 
to  depart  on  any  mission,  to  perform  any  work,  to  un- 
dertake any  enterprise,  or  to  occupy  any  station  that  he 
required  -  of  him.  The  superior's  decision  was  final, 
and  from  it  there  was  no  appeal.  The  Jesuit's  general 
was  empowered  to  inflict  and  remit  punishment  at  op- 
tion, and  to  expel  any  member  of  the  order  without 
the  form  of  charge  or  trial.  It  mattered  not  whether 
the  task  assigned  the  recluse  exceeded,  or  not,  his  mental 
or  physical  capacity,  he  was  bound  to  obey  the  order 
immediately,  and  fully ;  to  hesitate,  or  seem  to  hesitate 
was  a  crime,  and  by  the  penal  code   of  some  of  the 


130  MONASTIC  VOW   OF 

monasteries  punished  by  tlie  infliction  of  one  hundred 
lashes. 

But  to  reduce  a  human  being  to  such  an  absolute  servi- 
tude was  no  easy  task.  To  transform  an  active  being 
into  a  spiritless  automaton ;  a  sensitive  being  into  a 
senseless  machine ;  a  rational  being  into  an  irrational 
brute,  was  not  the  work  of  a  moment,  but  of  years  and 
discipline.  In  order  to  subdue  and  habituate  the  will 
to  implicit  and  mechanical  obedience,  recourse  had  to 
be  had  to  penance,  to  trials,  to  all  that  could  stifle 
doubt  and  inquiry,  debilitate  the  power  of  resistance, 
and  degrade  conscious  dignity  in  the  dust.  The  most 
menial  services,  the  most  loathsome,  disgusting,  and 
absurd  offices  were  consequently  asssigned  to  the  proba- 
tionists.  They  were  required  to  suck  the  putrid  sores 
of  invalids,  to  remove  enormous  rocks,  to  walk  un- 
flinchingly into  fiery  furnaces,  to  cast  their  infants  into 
ponds  of  water,  to  plant  stafi^s  in  the  ground  and  to 
w^ater  them  until  they  should  grow.  They  were  never 
allowed  to  be  alone  ,  two  were  always  to  be  together ; 
the  one  a  constant  and  conscious  spy  on  the  emotions 
of  the  other.  The  faithful  son  who  could  harden  him- 
self into  a  cold,  cruel,  and  remorseless  statue,  was  com- 
mended for  his  attainments  in  piety ;  but  the  unfaith- 
ful son  who  could  not  but  betray  some  emotion,  or  re- 
maining consciousness  of  the  independence  of  his  na- 
ture, in  defiance  of  his  circumspection,  was  doomed  to 
suff'er  the  torments  of  an  excruciating  penance. 

The  vow  of  solitude  had  stifled  the  social  instincts ; 
the  vow  of  silence  had  paralyzed  the  powers  of  speech, 
and  sealed  up  the  lips  of  wisdom,  knowledge  and  elo- 
quence ;  the  vow  of  contemjilation  had  subjugated  the 


UNCONDITIONAL    OBEDIENCE.  131 

intellectual  faculties  to  the  domination  of  fancy,  and 
the  bewilderments  of  ignorance ;  the  vow  of  poverty 
had  shackled  the  faculties  of  improvement  and  enter- 
prise ;  the  vow  of  celibacy  had  extinguished  connubial 
and  parental  affection ;  and  now  the  vow  of  uncondi- 
tional obedience,  by  subjugating  reason,  conscience,  and 
the  executive  powers  to  the  absolute  control  of  a  supe- 
rior, had  completed  the  monk's  slavery  in  the  ruin  of 
every  noble  and  valuable  attribute  of  his  nature.  Atro- 
cious as  were  the  other  vows,  the  last  exceeded  the 
combined  atrocity  of  them  all.  It  consummated  the 
destruction  of  his  nature.  It  was  the  grave  of  his  man- 
hood ;  the  tomb  in  which  he  buried  himself  alive. 
After  its  assumption  his  reason  was  not  to  guide  him ; 
his  knowledge  was  not  to  direct  him ;  his  conscience 
was  not  to  admonish  him ;  but  in  defiance  of  them  all, 
and  even  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  he  was  to  tremble,  and 
obey  a  spiritual  despot.  His  perceptive  faculties,  his 
conscious  independence,  his  love  of  liberty  and  justice, 
his  sense  of  obligation  and  accountability,  all  the  men- 
tal, moral,  and  physical  powers  which  constitute  his 
being,  were  by  this  vow,  basely  surrendered  to  an 
absolute  lord,  to  whom  he  became  a  slave  in  mind  and 
body,  —  and  forever. 

The  blind  obedience  which  the  pope  demands  to  his 
despotic  will,  is  antagonistical  to  the  Jewish  religion,  to 
the  Christian  religion,  and  to  Natural  religion.  It  is  a 
nullification  of  all  religion  ;  an  abrogation  of  the  au- 
thority of  the  deity ;  a  usurpation  of  the  throne  of 
Heaven.  The  Jewish  and  the  Christian  religion  require 
unconditional  obedience  to  God  alone.  In  their  sacred 
books,  the  pope  is  nowhere  mentioned,  nor  is  any  power 


132  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

referred  to  analagous  to  what  lie  claims.  Natural  re- 
ligion prescribes  reason  and  conscience  as  tiie  sujDreme 
guide  of  man ;  and  reason  and  conscience  reject  the 
papal  authority  as  absurd  and  unjust.  In  the  Hiero- 
phant  of  the  Elysian  mysteries,  in  the  Apostolic  Suc- 
cessor of  Buddha,  in  the  Grand  Lama,  in  the  Egyptian 
and  Persian  High  Priest  we  may  find  something  anal- 
agous to  the  claims  of  the  Pope  of  Rome,  but  nowhere 
else. 

The  unconditional  obedience  required  by  the  pope  is 
inconsistent  with  all  ideas  of  merit  and  demerit  in 
human  conduct.  If  man  acts  not  from  the  independ- 
ent suggestion  of  his  reason  and  conscience,  but  from 
the  secret  orders  of  another,  he  is  no  more  deserving  of 
commendation  for  uesful  acts,  than  a  locomotive  is  for 
its  obedience  to  the  will  of  an  engineer. 

The  unconditional  obedience  demanded  by  the  pope 
is  inconsistent  with  human  accountability.  It  is  an 
abrogation  of  all  obligation,  and  all  law.  It  assumes 
that  the  pope  is  above  all  authority  ;  accountable  to 
none ;  and  that  he  is  capable  of  nullifying  all  obliga- 
tions between  man  and  man,  between  government  and 
subjects,  between  mankind  and  their  creator.  It  ob- 
trudes between  man  and  his  reason,  and  forbids  him  to 
listen  to  its  voice.  It  obtrudes  between  man  and  his 
conscience,  and  forbids  him  to  obey  its  dictates.  It  ob- 
trudes between  man  and  his  civil  obligations,  and  for- 
bids him  to  obey  the  laws  of  his  country.  It  leaves  no 
sense  of  duty  or  obligation  existing  in  the  constitution 
of  man.  According  to  it,  man  is  not  accountable  to 
reason,  nor  conscience,  nor  society,  nor  God,  but  to  the 
pope  alone.     The  pope  is  therefore  "  more  than  God," 


UNCONDITIONAL    OBEDIENCE.  133 

as  one  of  his  titles  asserts ;  and  God  is  no  God  or  an 
inferior  one  to  him. 

The  unconditional  obedience  enforced  by  the  pope  is 
subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  world.  For  one  man, 
however  good  or  great,  to  require  the  united  intelli- 
gence of  the  human  family  to  submit  to  his  arbitrary 
dictation,  is  to  deny  their  right  to  an  independent 
will,  reason,  conscience,  or  principle  of  action,  or 
the  privilege  of  exercising  the  powers  which  they  have 
inherited  with  their  being.  It  is  to  declare  that  all 
men  are  abject  slaves  to  the  pope.  It  is  to  deny  that 
any  has  a  right  above  a  brute  that  is  bridled,  har- 
nessed, or  yoked,  to  be  driven  by  the  spurs  and  whips 
of  its  owner.  In  short,  it  is  to  crush  all  liberty  and  the 
rights  of  human  nature. 

A  claim  of  absolute  authority  is  always  absurd ;  but 
the  papal  claim  of  absolute  dominion  over  human  con- 
science and  reason,  surpasses  all  absurdity  recorded  in 
the  annals  of  tyranny  and  arrogance.  Even  were  su- 
periors, generals,  and  popes  as  wise  and  virtuous  as 
humanity  permitted,  yet  such  a  degree  of  power  en- 
trusted to  them  would  be  detrimental  to  the  interests  of 
society.  Parents  whose  welfare  and  honor  are  so  inti- 
mately interwoven  with  the  welfare  and  honor  of  their 
children,  often  regret  over  the  mistakes  which  they 
have  committed  in  giving  counsel.  For  a  sj^iritual  des- 
pot, whose  nature  has  been  religiously  pruned  of  human 
sensibilities,  whose  mind  has  been  contracted  within  the 
bigoted  circle  of  spiritual  ideas,  whose  interest  is  antag- 
onistical  to  those  of  his  subjects,  and  who  owns  no  ac- 
countability for  the  proper  exercise  of  his  functions,  for 
such  an  inhuman  monster  to  be  entrusted  with  exclusive 
12 


134  MONASTIC   VOW   OF 

control  over  tlie  reason,  conscience,  and  interests  of 
another,  would  as  inevitably  complete  his  arrogance 
and  tyranny  as  it  would  the  misery  and  slavery  of  his 
subordinate.  Less  than  such  a  result  could  not  be  ex- 
pected from  the  best  of  superiors,  generals,  or  monks. 
But  when  the  past  history  of  these  holy  men  has 
shown  that  they  have  invariably  labored  for  their  self- 
aggrandizement,  and  that  as  a  class,  they  have  been 
ignorant,  immoral,  cruel  and  intriguing,  such  power,  in 
the  hands  of  such  men,  would  not  only  extinguish  all 
virtue  in  the  breast  of  the  governed,  but  render  them 
instruments  of  the  most  flagitious  purposes.  When  by 
means  of  an  ecclesiastical  despotism,  learning  was  gov- 
erned by  ignorance,  wisdom  by  folly,  virtue  by  vice,  can 
we  wonder  that  monks,  superiors,  generals  and  popes 
were  the  basest  and  most  licentious  of  men  ;  that  the 
convents  were  rife  with  prostitution  and  murder ;  that 
the  papal  court  was  the  most  profligate  in  the  world ; 
and  that  the  most  prosperous  period  of  Catholicism  was 
the  darkest  age  of  mankind. 

But  the  papal  claim  of  absolute  control  over  reason 
and  conscience  refutes  itself.  It  suggests  a  strong  jDre- 
sumption  that  he  is  conscious  that  he  can  make  no 
successful  appeal  to  either  reason  or  conscience.  Had 
it  been  otherwise  would  he  have  denied  their  author- 
ity ?  "Were  he  confident  that  his  pretensions  are  founded 
in  truth,  would  he  have  prohibited  investigation  ?  Is 
not  reason  the  clearest  guide  to  truth,  conscience  its 
most  powerful  advocate,  investigation  its  most  formid- 
able ally  ?  And  had  these  noble  principles  been  avail- 
able in  supporting  the  pretension  of  the  pope,  would 
he  have  had  the  stupidity  to  denounce  them? 


UNCONDITIONAL    OBEDIENCE.  135 

If  it  is  consistent  with  religion  to  make  automata 
of  human  beings,  slaves  of  men,  a  machine  of  the  world ; 
to  harness  mankind  in  the  gears  of  an  ecclesiastical 
despot,  that  they  may  be  driven  under  his  lash  whither- 
soever his  pleasure  or  interest  may  require ;  to  obliter- 
ate the  faculties  that  distinguish  men  from  brutes ;  to 
deny  the  existence  of  a  God  by  abrogating  his  attributes, 
and  blaspheme  Omnipotence  by  the  ridicule  of  assuming 
his  prerogatives ;  then  the  absolute,  implicit,  and  un- 
hesitating obedience  enjoined  on  the  religious  orders  by 
the  Catholic  Church  is  in  accordance  with  its  spirit  and 
design.  But  if  religion  is  morality  in  its  highest  devel- 
opment, humanity  in  its  purest  character,  and  reason 
in  its  freest  exercise,  then  is  the  papal  despotism  not 
only  subversive  of  religion,  but  destructive  of  the  rights 
of  man,  of  the  obligations  of  virtue,  and  dangerous  to  the 
liberty  and  interests  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Pagan    Origin   of  the    Ilonastic    Orders.  —  Concluding 
Fiemarhs. 

We  have  shown  in  the  previous  chapters  that  the  mo- 
nastic vows  are  in  conflict,  not  only  with  the  require- 
ments of  moral  goodness,  but  with  the  dictates  of  rea- 
son, the  principles  of  personal  improvement,  and  the 
interests  and  progress  of  society.  "We  have  shown, 
also,  that  they  were  assumed  not  for  the  humble  pur- 
pose of  acquiring  spiritual  perfection,  but  for  the  am- 
bitious purpose  of  obtaining  riches,  powder,  and  domin- 
ion. From  these  considerations,  and  from  the  fact  that 
the  monachal  orders  form  an  elementary  part  of  the 
constitution  of  the  Catholic  Church,  we  have  inferred 
that  she  is  rather  a  political  than  a  religious  institution  ; 
and  that  while  politics  form  her  nature  and  principles, 
religion  is  assumed  as  an  ornament  and  disguise. 

We  will  now  adduce  a  few  facts  tending  to  show  that 
monkish  orders  originated,  not  from  Christianity  ;  that 
they  existed  in  pre-historic  ages ;  and  that  so  far  as 
they  constitute  the  Catholic  Church,  she  is  a  heathen, 
and  not  a  Christian  institution. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Carmelite  monks  claim 
Elijah,  the  prophet,  as  their  founder.  Among  the  an- 
cient personages  whom  they  assert  belonged  to  their 
order,  they  enumerate  Pythagoras,  the  Gallic  Druids, 
all  the  prophets  and  holy  men  mentioned  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  the  Apostles,  the  Essen es,  and  the 


CONCLUDING   REMARKS.  137 

ancient  liermlts.  Althougli  amid  the  wrangling  of  the 
monastic  orders  for  preeminence,  this  claim  has  rigor- 
ously been  contested,  yet  Pope  Benedict  III.  allowed 
the  Carmelites  to  erect  in  the  Vatican  the  statue  of 
Elijah  as  the  founder  of  their  order.  This  permission, 
so  far  as  the  concession  of  the  infallible  fixther  is  author- 
ity, places  the  antiquity  of  the  monachal  order  remotely 
beyond  that  of  Christianity ;  acknowledges  its  institu- 
tion to  have  originated  from  Judaism ;  and  grants  that 
its  rules  and  principles  were  adopted  by  ancient  Pagan 
fraternities. 

That  identical  institutions  have  flourished  in  Asia 
from  the  remotest  historical  periods,  admits  not  of  a 
question.  The  present  Sufism  of  Arabia  is  but  a  modi- 
fied form  of  an  ancient  system  of  pantheistical  mysti- 
cism, which  taught  that  through  the  observance  of  ascetic 
practices  the  animal  passions  could  be  destroyed,  the 
soul  purified  and  assimilated  to  God,  and  a  beatific  state 
attained  whose  tranquility  nothing  could  disturb.  The 
Gymnosophists,  the  naked  philosophers  of  India,  were 
an  order  of  monks,  who  practised  the  most  excruciat- 
ing penance  ;  and  who,  in  their  eagerness  to  become 
pure,  sometimes  burnt  themselves  alive.  The  God  Fo, 
born  in  Cashmere  B.  C.  1027,  the  author  of  the  Bram- 
inical  religion,  strenuously  advocated  monachal  insti- 
tutions. The  different  orders  of  the  monks  and  her- 
mits which  originated  from  his  allegorical  and  mystical 
teaching,  assumed  the  vows  of  unconditional  obedience 
and  absolute  poverty.  The  monks  resided  in  monas- 
teries, and  the  hermits  in  deserts.  They  both  practised 
the  most  rigorous  penance,  professed  to  aspire  after  ab- 
solute puritv,  but  in  their  conduct  and  principles  they 
12* 


138  PAGAN   ORIGIN   OF   THE 

were   grovelling,   intriguing,  profligate  and  ambitious. 
Buddha,  born  B.  C.  1029,  two  years  after  Fo,  found- 
ed  the   monastic  order  of   the  Buddhists.      His   con- 
vents were  governed  by  superiors  who  were  subject  to 
the  absolute  authority  of  the  patriarch,  or,  as  he  was 
officially  styled,  the  Apostolic  Successor.      The   func- 
tions and  authority  of  the  Buddhistic  superiors  were 
similar  to  those  of  the  Catholic  orders ;  and  the  preten- 
sions and  dignity  of  the  patriarch  were  one  and  the 
same  with  those  of   the  Pope  of    Kome.     The  monks 
lived  in  monasteries,  assumed  the  vows  of  obedience, 
poverty  and  celibacy,  and  admitted  virgins  to  social  in- 
tercourse.    Jeseus  Christna,  born  B.  0.  3,500,  the  incar- 
nate redeemer  of  the  Hindoos,  whose  birth,  life,   aud 
miracles  resemble  those  of  Jesus  Christ,  (see  "Bible  in 
India,")  alludes  in  his  discourses  to  monks  and  her- 
mits as  being  at  his  time  ancient,  flourishing  and  ven- 
erated orders.     The  Hindoo  and  Mohammedan  Fakirs 
are  classes  of  monks  who  vow  obedience,  poverty  and 
celibacy,  retire  from  the  world,  pass  their  time  in  silent 
contemplation,  and  acquire  the  veneration  of  the  pop- 
ulace  by  the   practice   of  absurd   and  cruel  penance. 
The  Essenes,  who  flourished  in  Egypt  and  Palestine  be- 
fore the  Christian  era,  were  an  organization  of  monks 
who  derived  their  theological  principles  from  the  God 
Theuth,  the  founder  of  the  Egyptian  religious  ceremonies. 
From  the  above  enumerated  facts  the  conclusion  is 
irresistable,  that  the  Catholic  monastic  orders  are  neither 
of  Christian  origin,  nor  inconsistent  with  the  doctrines 
and  worship  of  Paganism. 

A  Eomish  missionary  who   visited  China,  observing 
the  similarity  which  subsisted  between  the  Chinese  and 


MONASTIC   ORDERS,  139 

the  Catholic  religion,  declared  that  the  devil  must  have 
preceded  him,  and  converted  the  nation  to  Christianity, 
in  order  to  cheat  the  church  out  of  the  credit  of  the 
enterprise.  A  more  learned  but  less  pious  authority 
concluded  from  the  same  analogy,  that  Catholicism  did 
not  convert  Paganism,  but  that  Paganism  converted 
Catholicism. 

We  will  now  conclude  our  examination  of  the  Cath- 
olic monastic  orders,  with  a  few  general  remarks. 

The  monastic  vows  are  not  only  a  bold  abnegation  of 
the  authority  of  reason  and  conscience,  but  a  crafty  de- 
vice to  delude  the  credulous,  and  secretly  to  acquire 
riches,  power  and  influence.  Although  they  were  as- 
sumed by  the  monks  as  perpetual  obligations,  yet  they 
were  evaded,  modified,  or  abrogated  as  interest  and  pol- 
icy suggested.  The  mendicant  orders,  which  assumed 
the  vow  of  perpetual  and  absolute  poverty,  artfully  la- 
bored to  amass  fortunes;  and  soon  betrayed  a  secret 
design  of  acquiring  hierachal  importance  and  suprem- 
acy. The  Franciscans,  who  solemnly  obligated  them- 
selves to  remain  forever  poor,  incessantly  grasped  after 
riches.  When  they  had  built  nunneries,  convents,  and 
became  the  proprietors  of  extensive  domains,  they  abro- 
gated their  vow  of  perpetual  poverty,  lest  it  should  in- 
validate their  title  to  vast  possessions  which  they  held. 
With  equal  duplicity  and  ambition,  they  assumed,  upon 
their  first  organization,  a  vow  of  perpetual  ignorance; 
abjuring  the  acquisition  of  any  intellectual  accomplish- 
ment, and  consecrating  themselves  strictly  to  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  But  becoming  enchanted  with 
the  magnificence  of  the  papal  crown,  and  wishing  to 
wield  its  immense  power  and  lucrative  patronage  in  be- 


140  PAGAN   ORIGIN    OF   THE 

half  of  their  order,  and  perceiving  that  literary  ac- 
quirements would  facilitate  the  accomplishment  of  this 
object,  they  annulled  their  vow  of  perpetual  ignorance, 
and  began  to  devote  themselves  to  the  acquisition  of 
some  degree  of  profane  erudition.  Having  acquired 
immense  wealth  and  popularity,  and  removed  by  art  or 
bribery  every  obstacle  to  the  success  of  their  ambition, 
they  placed  on  the  apostolic  throne,  from  their  own 
order,  Nicholas  V.,  Alexander  V.,  Sixtus  IV.,  and 
Clement  XIV.  The  Dominicans,  who  were  established 
to  preach  against  infidels  and  heretics,  adopted  at  the 
commencement  of  their  career  the  money-making  de- 
vices of  the  mendicant  orders  ;  but  when  their  reven- 
ues had  become  so  great,  and  their  domains  so  exten- 
sive that  they  had  attracted  a  covetous  glance  from  the 
secular  power,  they  prudently  annulled  the  vows  by 
which  they  had  been  acquired,  lest  the  profane  avari- 
ciousness  of  princes  should  cause  their  sequestration. 

The  Jesuits  professed  to  have  a  holy  abhorrence  of 
riches,  but  thankfully  accepted  costly  presents,  opulent 
legacies,  vast  tracts  of  land,  and  the  pecuniary  means 
of  erecting  numerous  stately  structures.  While  this 
pious  fraternity  resolved  not  to  accept  any  ecclesiasti- 
cal dignity,  it  secretly  and  artfully  labored  to  acquire 
all  the  privileges  of  the  mendicant  orders,  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  secular  clergy,  and  to  make  the  mem- 
bers of  its  order  superior  to  those  of  any  other,  and  its 
general  next  in  power  and  importance  to  the  pope.  By 
hypocrisy,  intrigue,  and  cringing  sycophancy,  these  un- 
scrupulous monks  obtained  rights  and  privileges  enjoyed 
by  no  other  ecclesiastical  corporation.  They  not  only 
obtained  exemption  from  all  civil  and  episcopal  taxes, 


MONASTIC   ORDERS.  141 

and  from  all  amenability  to  any  other  power  than  that 
of  the  pope ;  but  also  the  authority  of  absolving  from 
all  sins  and  ecclesiastical  penalties;  of  changing  the 
object  of  the  vows  of  the  laity;  and  of  acquiring 
churches  and  domains  without  restriction.  They  were 
privileged  also  to  suit  their  dress  to  circumstances,  their 
conduct  to  peculiarities,  their  profession  to  the  views  of 
others;  to  be  accommodating  and  complaisant  while 
pursuing  a  political  enterprise,  and  under  the  mask  of 
any  external  appearance  to  prosecute  in  secret  what 
might  excite  opposition  if  openly  avowed.  They  were 
allowed  to  become  actual  merchants,  mechanics,  show- 
men, actors,  and  to  adopt  any  profession  calculated  to 
facilitate  the  accomplishment  of  a  design,  and  to  throw 
off  the  mask  whenever  they  thought  expedient.  Organ- 
ized on  the  principles  of  deception,  and  unrestricted  in 
their  privileges,  they  secretly  labored  for  their  own 
aggrandizement,  while  they  publicly  professed  to  be 
sacrificing  their  interests  to  the  salvation  of  mankind. 
They  became  professors  of  universities  and  tutors  of 
schools,  that  they  might  select  the  brightest  minds  of 
the  rising  generation,  and  mould  them  to  their  pur- 
poses. They  became  the  spiritual  guides  of  females  of 
rank  and  opulence,  that  they  might  avail  themselves  of 
their  influence  and  control  their  wealth.  They  became 
the  confessors  of  princes,  that  they  might  penetrate 
their  intentions,  ferret  out  their  secrets,  watch  over 
their  conduct,  and  enslave  and  govern  their  minds. 
They  became  the  governors  of  colonies,  in  order  to 
grasp  secular  revenues,  and  to  exercise  the  political 
power  in  behalf  of  their  interests.  They  established 
seminaries    and   boarding    schools    for   both   sexes,  in 


142  I^AGAN   OBIGIN   OF  THE 

order  to  acquire  dominion  over  the  young ;  they 
sought  to  occupy  the  confessional,  in  order  to  dis- 
cover all  domestic  and  governmental  secrets ;  and  they 
labored  to  monopolize  the  pulpit,  in  order  to  manufac- 
ture public  opinion,  and  influence  the  general  tone  of 
society  in  their  favor. 

The  numerous  divisions  into  which  the  religious  or- 
ders were  divided,  and  their  different  degrees  of  aus- 
terity, enabled  the  church  to  suit  its  policy  to  the  cor- 
ruption or  purity,  the  ignorance  or  learning  of  the 
nation  it  sought  to  proselyte  and  govern.  Under  its 
direction  the  monks  flattered  every  power  they  were 
ordered  to  subvert,  and  blushed  at  no  sycophancy  that 
facilitated  the  accomplishment  of  an  object.  Governed 
by  unnatural  vows,  they  sacrificed  freedom,  the  source 
of  natural  sentiment,  to  credulity  and  blind  submis- 
sion The  most  absurd  and  criminal  injunctions  of  a 
superior  or  general  were  obeyed  without  compunction 
or  remorse.  If  they  aspired  after  perfection,  it  was  by 
sacrificing  the  virtues  of  life.  If  they  strove  to  obtain 
personal  purity,  it  was  by  violating  the  law^s  of  their 
being.  They  sought  to  atone  for  offences  by  scourging 
their  backs,  ironing  their  limbs,  chaining  themselves  to 
focks,  passing  their  lives  in  caves,  in  days  without  food, 
in  nights  without  sleep,  in  years  without  speaking ;  sub- 
sisting without  money,  propagating  without  women, 
acquiring  the  respect  of  the  world  they  despised,  the 
riches  they  contemned,  and  the  dignity  they  abjured. 
They  were  a  palpable  deception,  yet  an  object  of  uni- 
versal veneration.  By  cunning  and  obsequiousness 
they  sought  and  obtained  power ;  by  duplicity  and 
fraud  they  amassed  fortunes;  by  luxury  and  tyranny 


MONASTIC   ORDERS.  143 

they  oppressed  the  world.  Every  species  of  absurdity, 
art,  hypocrisy,  avarice,  ambition  and  despotism,  under 
the  guise  of  sanctity  was  embodied  in  their  organiza- 
tion, and  illustrated  in  their  conduct. 

The  doctrines  which  they  taught  were  often  as  per- 
nicious as  their  professions  were  false,  and  their  con- 
duct crafty.  As  the  accommodating  morality  of  their 
religion  allowed  them  to  adopt  any  profession,  or  any 
mode  of  life  that  would  favor  the  success  of  a  design, 
so  the  license  of  their  sop]?iistry  enabled  them  to  con- 
strue the  maxims  of  virtue  according  to  any  standard 
that  would  justify  the  conduct  dictated  by  their  interest 
or  sycophancy.  By  the  pliancy  of  their  moral  code 
they  consecrated  the  basest  means  to  pious  ends.  By 
the  subterfuge  of  perplexing  interpretations,  mental 
reservations,  and  an  artful  ambiguity  of  language,  they 
excused  and  sanctioned  perjury  and  every  other  crime. 
They  taught  that  offences  were  justified,  if,  when  com- 
mitted, the  criminal  thought  differently  from  what  he 
said  or  done ;  and  that  a  mental  reservation  nullified 
the  obligation  of  any  promise,  of  any  contract,  or  of 
any  treaty.  The  perversions-  of  the  maxims  of  virtue 
by  which  they  sought  to  justify  the  crimes  of  others, 
they  applied  to  their  own  conduct  in  the  broadest  sense. 
In  1809,  when  the  papal  archives  were  brought  to 
France,  the  startling  fact  became  public  that  the  holy 
fathers  had  been  in  the  habit  of  availing  themselves  of 
pious  subterfuges.  It  then  appeared  that  while  they 
had  made  contracts,  and  issued  bulls  in  conformity  with 
the  demands  of  temporal  princes,  they  had  at  the  same 
time  nullified,  by  virtue  of  mental  reservations,  such  of 
them  as  were  obnoxious. 


144  IMMORALITY    OF   THE 

The  absurdities  and  perniciousness  of  their  moral 
code  were  not  exceeded  by  those  of  their  penal  code. 
According  to  the  doctrines  of  Catholicity  the  guilt  of 
every  crime  may  be  expiated  by  the  performance  of 
penance.  To  regulate  the  priest  in  prescribing  this 
mode  of  punishment,  the  church  furnished  him  with  an 
ecclesiastical  body  of  laws,  which  he  as  carefully  as  pru- 
dently concealed  from  the  eyes  of  the  intelligent.  All 
priests  were  enabled,  by  the  use  of  this  code,  to  under- 
stand the  true  orthodox  degree  of  punishment  which 
had  been  authoratively  decided  should  be  inflicted  on 
penitents,  for  the  commission  of  any  offence  of  word, 
thought  or  deed  ;  and  a  uniformity  in  the  administra- 
tion of  penal  prescriptions  was  maintained,  which  har- 
monized with  the  divine  inspiration  by  which  the  con- 
fessor pretended  to  be  guided  in  the  matter.  Fasts, 
prayers,  self-torture,  abstinence  from  business,  were, 
by  the  authority  of  the  ecclesiastical  code,  declared  to 
be  the  divinely  appointed  methods  of  expiating  the 
guilt  of  rape,  of  fornication,  of  adultery,  of  robbery, 
of  murder,  and  of  every  degree  and  species  of  crime. 
These  offences  being  veryhenious  in  their  nature,  and 
very  frequently  committed  by  those  who  believed  in  the 
ability  of  the  church  to  absolve  them  from  their  guilt, 
and  time  being  required  for  the  performance  of  the 
atoning  penance,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  an  ordinary  Cath- 
olic sinner  was  in  eminent  danger  of  incurring  a  debt 
which  would  require  several  centuries  of  penance  to 
liquidate.  Here  was  a  dilemma.  Long  fasting  would 
starve  him  ;  long  abstinence  from  business  would  em- 
poverish  him  ;  and  either  expedient  would  prevent  him 
from  being  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  church ;  and,  in 


MONASTIC   ORDERS.  145 

fact,  defeat  the  object  of  the  holy  sacrament  of  pen- 
ance. To  obviate  this  difficulty  the  ingenious  method 
of  indulgences  was  adopted.  By  this  happy  expedient 
provision  was  made  for  the  relief  of  all  criminals  at 
stipulated  prices,  graduated  according  to  their  pecuni- 
ary circumstances.  A  penance  imposed  on  a  rich  sinner 
for  one  year's  indulgence  in  the  commission  of  a  par- 
ticular offence,  was,  by  this  crafty  device,  allowed  to 
be  cancelled  by  the  payment  of  twenty  shillings  to  the 
priest ;  and  if  the  sinner  was  poor,  by  the  payment  of 
nine  shillings  Yet  even  by  this  indulgence  and  char- 
itable discrimination,  as  every  separate  offence  required 
the  atonement  of  a  separate  penance,  few  sinners 
escaped  incurring  less  than  a  debt  of  three  hundred 
years,  or  of  two  hundred  pounds  sterling.  The  liqui- 
dation of  such  an  obligation  during  the  dark  ages  would 
consume  a  small  fortune ;  but  the  expansive  benevolence 
of  the  church,  touched  at  the  sorrows  of  her  contrite 
members,  graciously  accepted  their  land  after  she  had 
exhausted  their  purse. 

As  crime  had  its  degrees  of  turpitude,  the  ecclesias- 
tical code  prescribed  degrees  of  severity  in  punishing 
it.  Whoever  could  not  pay  with  their  purse  had  to  pay 
with  their  body.  Three  thousand  lashes,  and  the  repe- 
tition of  a  portion  of  the  Psalter,  were  prescribed  as  an 
indispensable  satisfaction  for  any  crime  whose  penance 
required  a  year  to  discharge;  and  fifteen  thousand 
lashes  and  the  repetition  of  the  whole  Psalter,  for 
any  crime  whose  penance  required  five  years  to  dis- 
charge. A  year's  penance  was  taxed  at  three  thousand 
lashes,-  a  century's  at  three  hundred  thousand  lashes, 
and  five  centuries  at  fifteen  hundred  thousand  lashes. 
13 


146  IMMORALITY  OF   THE 

These  scourgings  were  always  sanctified  by  tKe  repeti- 
tion of  psalms.  As  vicarious  flagellation  did  not  im- 
pair the  revenues  of  the  church,  it  was  not  objected  to; 
and  a  sinner  would  often  expiate  his  guilt  by  vigor- 
ously laying  the  stripes  it  demanded  on  the  back  of  an 
accommodating  friend.  The  skill  and  hardihood  of  St. 
Dominic  was  able  to  discharge  the  penitential  lashes  of 
a  century  in  six  days  ;  and  his  pious  example  was  at- 
tempted to  be  imitated  even  by  ladies  of  fashion  and 
quality. 

The  monasteries  were  ambiguous,  oppressive  corpora- 
tions. If  they  have  at  times  preserved  the  literary 
treasures  of  the  ancients,  they  have  impaired  their  au- 
thority by  numerous  corruptions  and  interpolations. 
If  they  have  sometimes  established  institutions  for  the 
education  of  youth,  they  have  generally  usurped  the 
fortunes  of  their  patrons.  If  they  have  ever  been 
places  of  refuge  for  the  proscribed,  they  have  always 
been  the  means  of  oppressing  industry,  and  restricting 
freedom.  If  they  have  been  schools  for  the  correction 
of  error,  and  improvement  in  virtue,  yet  the  absurdities 
and  immoralities  taught  within  their  sanctuaries,  and 
the  crimes  notoriously  practised  therein,  have  in- 
flicted deeper  injury  on  the  cause  of  truth,  and  on  the 
interest  of  public  morals,  than  can  be  atoned  for  by 
any  usefulness  or  virtue  which  they  could  possess,  or 
can  pretend  to  claim.  Their  virtues  were  accidents ; 
their  vices  natural  offsprings.  They  were  financial  in- 
stitutions. The  labor  performed  by  their  inmates  as  a 
penance,  was  made  a  lucrative  source  of  revenue.  The 
articles  which  they  manufactured  were  represented  as 
capable  of  imparting  a  peculiar  blessing  to  the  pur- 


MONASTIC   ORDERS.  147 

chaser,  making  them  cheap   at  any  price.      A  simple 
badge  of  a  religious  order,  to  which,  were  ascribed  di- 
vine virtue,  and  an  unlimited  amount   of  indulgences, 
was  sold  to  lay  members  at  the  price  of  a  respectable 
fortune.     The  tutors  with  which  the  monasteries  fur- 
nished schools,  the  professors  which  they  gave  to  col- 
leges, the   confessors  with  which  they  supplied  princes, 
and  the  spiritual  guides  with  which  they  provided  the 
affluent  of  both  sexes,  were  benevolently  granted  upon 
the  payment  of  exorbitant  sums  of  money.     Gold  being 
the  source  of  power  and  luxury,  it  became  the  govern- 
ing principle   of  the  church.     For  it  she  granted  in- 
dulgences to   violate  the  laws  of  heaven   and    earth ; 
threatened  and  repealed  excommunications ;  and  mer- 
chandised every  spiritual  blessing,  all  the  prerogatives 
of  heaven,  and  all  the  privileges  of  earth.     Gold  sup- 
plied the  place   of  contrition,  atoned  for  the  offences  of 
criminals,  released  sinners  from  purgatory,  and  opened 
to  guilt  the  gates  of  Paradise.     As  it  more  ably  than 
any  thing  else  increased  the  power  and  dominion  of 
the   church,  it  was  a  more    adorable   object  than  the 
deity,  a  more  precious  savior  than  Christ,  a  more  sanc- 
tifying  possession  than  the  Holy  Ghost.     As  all  had 
sinned,  all  had  to  pay  ;  and  as  all  were  totally  depraved, 
all  had  to  be  liberal.     The  confessor  was  judge  ;  and  as 
he  was  interested  in  the  amount,  he  was  likely  to  be  ex- 
orbitant   in  the  demand.     The  sin  of  total  depravity, 
which  all  had  inherited  from  the  forbidden  fruit  which 
Adam  had  eaten,  empowered  a  priest  to  demand  of  a 
penitent  the  surrender  of  the  whole  of  his  fortune. 

"With  extraordinary  financial  ingenuity,  the  church 
converted  not  only  the  crimes  of  her  members,  but  the 


148  IMMORALITY   OF   THE 

virtues  of  her  departed  saints,  into  a  lucrative  source 
of  revenue.  Happily  conceiving  that  the  saints,  some 
of  whom  had  been  executed  as  malefactors,  had  per- 
formed more  good  works  than  was  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  their  souls,  she  inferred  that  the  supera- 
bundant quantity  of  their  goodness  might  be  dealt  out 
to  the  destitute  without  detriment  to  the  owners.  With 
more  cupidity  than  reason,  the  church  laid  claim  to 
these  works  of  supererogation,  and  began  to  vend  them 
at  exorbitant  prices.  The  exhaustlessness  of  the  store, 
and  the  scarcity  of  the  article  among  her  members, 
made  the  enterprise  a  very  profitable  speculation. 

After  disposing  of  a  great  portion  of  heaven,  and 
finding  it  exceedingly  remunerative,  her  inveterate 
disposition  to  traffic  led  her  to  examine  the  saints 
more  carefully,  and  see  if  they  had  not  other  disposable 
material  for  the  exercise  of  her  commercial  ingenuity. 
She  was  not  long  in  discovering  that  the  bones  of  the 
saints  were  likely  to  be  deemed  as  valuable  as  their  vir- 
tues had  been,  and  might  prove  as  marketable.  This 
discovery  induced  an  industrious  search  for  their  graves, 
and  a  careful  excavation  of  them.  The  bones  of  Sam- 
uel, the  judge  of  Isreal,  which  had  slept  for  five  hun- 
dred years  in  Palestine,  were  exhumed  and  transported 
to  Rome.  St.  Stephen  having  appeared  in  a  dream  to 
a  pious  man,  and  informed  him  where  his  corpse  reposed, 
the  locality  was  immediately  examined  by  bishops  and 
priests  in  company  with  the  dreamer.  Unmistakable 
proofs  appeared  as-  to  the  existence  of  a  grave,  but 
some  honest  doubts  arose  as  to  it  being  the  identical  one 
in  which  St.  Stephen  had  been  deposited ;  yet  they  all 
vanished  upon   opening  the   coffin,   for  such   celestial 


MONASTIC  ORDERS.  149 

odors  arose  from  the  corpse,  and  such,  devout  reverence 
was  manifested  by  the  trees  and  rocks  in  the  vicinity, 
that  the  most  sceptical  was  satisfied  of  the  genuineness 
of  the  relics.  A  saint's  tomb  being  equal  in  value  to  a 
gold  mine,  it  was  natural  for  the  church  to  seek  for  it 
with  great  eagerness.  But  the  deep  earnestness  of  her 
enthusiasm  blunted  the  acuteness  of  her  judgment.  It 
sometimes  led  her  to  mistake  the  bones  of  cats,  of  dogs, 
and  of  jackals  for  those  of  saints;  and  as  there  is  no 
difference  between  the  bones  of  thieves  and  murderers 
and  those  of  saints,  and  as  both  classes  have  often  been 
regarded  by  law  as  synonymous,  and  interred  together 
in  the  same  field,  the  former  were  frequently  gathered 
up  in  mistake  for  the  latter.  But  however  mortifying 
were  such  errors,  they  did  not  prove  as  unfortunate  as 
might  have  been  expected  ;  for  until  anatomy  and  his- 
tory had  rectified  them,  the  bones  of  pigs,  of  jack- 
als, and  of  malefactors,  brought  as  good  prices  as  the 
veritable  bones  of  saints,  were  as  eagerly  sought  after ; 
and  what  is  very  remarkable,  performed  as  many  and 
as  great  miracles. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  assert  that  the  religious  orders, 
even  the  most  objectionable  of  them,  did  not  in  some 
instances  render  valuable  aid  to  the  cause  of  education 
and  humanity  The  sanctity  and  disinterestedness  with 
which  their  profession  was  invested,  though  generally 
assumed,  were  sometimes  real.  But  the  corrupt  and 
pernicious  principles  which  entered  into  their  constitu- 
tion, were  too  self-evident  to  be  concealed  from  the 
eyes  of  mankind  ;  and  too  revolting  to  escape  the  anim- 
adversion of  some  of  the  more  noble  and  courageous 
members  of  their  fraternitv.  Some  of  the  clergy,  and 
13* 


150  ABEOGATION   OF  THE 

many  of  the  learned  men  of  the  age  boldly  complained 
of  their  base  immorality.  Their  aversion  to  reform, 
and  the  worldly  policy  which  characterized  their  relig- 
ious profession,  sunk  them  in  the  estimation  of  the  en- 
lightened and  philanthropic.  Their  pernicious  inter- 
meddling in  political  affairs,  their  cunning  and  obse- 
quiousness, their  busy  and  intriguing  spirit,  and  the 
powerful  confederacy  of  their  orders,  made  them  ob- 
jects of  suspicion  to  jurists  and  statesmen.  The  nu- 
merous exemptions  which  they  enjoyed  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  laws,  their  privileges  nullifying  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  civil  authority  over  them,  their 
overgrown  power,  and  the  base  accommodation  of  prin- 
ciple to  circumstances,  by  which  they  labored  to  advance 
the  pope's  pretension  to  supreme  dominion,  rendered 
their  existence  in  a  government  a  political  solecism. 
But  notwithstanding  these  palpable  facts,  the  force  of 
habit  and  of  education,  the  deep-rooted  reverence  which 
existed  in  the  public  mind  for  the  spiritual  guides,  the 
superstitious  dread  of  their  anathemas,  and  the  servile 
temper  which  monarchical  government  engenders  in  the 
minds  of  subjects,  all  conspired  to  conciliate  Christen- 
dom to  the  deep  degradation  inflicted  on  society  by  the 
monastic  orders,  until  their  arrogant  conduct  towards 
some  powerful  monarch  had  surpassed  the  limits  of  his 
forbearance.  It  was  then  that  the  discontent  and  in- 
dignation which  their  outrageous  conduct  had  cre- 
ated in  the  public  mind,  but  which  superstition  had 
held  in  check,  broke  forth  in  bold  and  explicit  demands 
for  reformation.  Eeforms,  consequently,  w^ere  not  only 
projected,  but  peremptorily  enforced.  The  temporal 
and  spiritual  powers  of  the  monastic  orders  were  re- 


MONASTIC   ORDERS.  151 

stricted  by  the  abolisliment  of  their  exemptions.  Sov- 
reigns  appropriated  many  of  their  rich  estates  to  educa- 
tion and  charitable  purposes  ;  and  sometimes  to  their 
own  use.  Even  Catholic  princes  obliged  the  monks  to 
submit  to  unpleasant  restrictions,  or  to  purchase  exemp- 
tion at  an  enormous  rate.  The  different  orders,  one 
after  the  other,  were  abrogated  on  account  of  some  in- 
tolerable conduct.  The  Jesuists  were  abolished  in  Eng- 
land on  account  of  the  political  plotting  of  its  members ; 
in  Holland  for  having  caused  the  assassination  of 
Maufice  de  Nassau  ;  in  Portugal  for  an  attempt  to  mur- 
der Joseph  I.;  in  Spain,  and  its  colonies,  for  conspir- 
ing against  the  government ;  in  Italy  for  licentious- 
ness ;  and  in  France,  as  the  decree  expresses,  because 
"  Their  doctrine  destroys  the  law  of  nature,  that  rule 
of  morals  which  God  has  inscribed  on  the  heart  of 
man.  Their  dogmas  break  all  bounds  of  civil  society, 
authorizing  theft,  perjury,  falsehood,  the  most  inordi- 
nate and  criminal  impiety,  and  generally  all  passions 
and  wickedness ;  teaching  the  nefarious  principle  of 
secret  compensation,  equivocation  and  mental  reserva- 
tion ;  extirpating  every  sentiment  of  humanity  in 
their  sanction  of  homicide  and  parracide  ;  subverting 
the  authority  of  government,  and,  in  fine,  overthrowing 
tho  practice  and  foundation  of  religion,  and  substitut- 
ing in  their  stead  all  sorts  of  superstition,  with  magic, 
blasphemy,  and  adultery."  That  their  conduct  and 
principles  are  of  the  most  execrable  description,  the 
history  of  all  nations  affords  melancholy  evidence. 
They  attempted  to  dethrone  Queen  Elizabeth,  but  de- 
feated in  that,  sought  to  murder  her.  They  caused  the 
assassination  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.     They  endea- 


152  ABROGATION    OF   MONASTIC   ORDERS. 

vored  to  poison  Maximillion  I.,  King  of  Austria.  They 
attempted  to  murder  Henry  IV.,  and  Louis  XV.  They 
poisoned  Pope  Clement  XIII.,  for  having  attempted  to 
abolish  them,  and  Pope  Clement  XIX.,  for  having  ab- 
rogated their  order,  although  he  did  it  with  mental 
reservations.  Loaded  with  the  crimes  of  ages,  and  the 
curses  of  nations,  they  were  abolished  with  different 
limitations  in  every  part  of  Europe  ;  and  as  they  were 
the  most  powerful  of  the  monastic  orders,  the  others 
rapidly  incurred  the  sentence  of  the  same  degradation. 
But  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  Jesuistical  order,  so 
execrable  in  its  principles,  so  dangerous  to  public  peace 
and  morals,  and  so  justly  reprobated  by  all  enlightened 
men  and  governments,  was  restored  by  Pope  Pius  VII.,' 
who  intimated  that  it  would  reappear  in  the  same  au- 
thority in  which  it  fell.  Again  these  monks  are  trav- 
ersing the  world,  arresting  the  progress  of  science, 
demoralizing  society,  and  plotting  treason  and  rebel- 
lion in  the  advancement  of  the  pope's  claims  to  su- 
preme temporal  and  spiritual  dominion,  until  the  foun- 
dation of  independent  government  begins  to  quake  ; 
until  the  pillars  of  constitutional  liberty  begin  to  tot- 
ter ;  until  despotism  dares  insult  the  ears  of  freemen 
with  the  boldness  of  its  prophecies ;  and  until  states- 
men and  patriots  turn  pale  as  they  view  the  portentous 
vapors  darkling  the  political  horizon,  which  may 
gather  into  a  storm,  whose  rain  will  be  the  blood  of 
nations,  and  whose  thunder  will  shake  governments  to 
atoms. 


CHAPTEK  X. 

JPopes,    their   Pretensions,    Elections,    Character,    and 
A  dministrations. 

That  we  may  not  commifc  the  error  of  attributing  to 
tiie  holy  mother  absurdities  which  she  repudiates,  we 
will  inquire  v/hat  are  her  pretensions  before  arraigning 
her  reason  or  justice  in  making  them.  An  unequivo- 
cal answer  to  this  inquiry  may  ba  obtained  from  the 
import  of  her  titles,  from  the  bulls  of  her  popes,  from 
the  canons  of  her  councils,  and  from  the  assertions  of 
her  acknowledged  authorities.  Some  of  the  pope's  ac- 
credited titles  are  the  following :  "  The  Father  of  all 
Fathers;"  "The  Chief  High  Priest  and  Prince  of 
God ;"  "The  Regent  of  the  House  of  the  Lord ;"  "The 
Oracle  of  Religion;"  "Our  Most  Holy  Lord  God;" 
"Our  Lord  God  the  Pope;"  "The  Divine  Majesty;" 
"  The  Victorious  God  and  Man  in  the  See  of  Rome;" 
"  The  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world;"  "The  Bearer  of  Eternal  Life;"  "The  Most 
Holy  Father;"  "Priest  of  the  World;"  "God's  Vicar 
General  on  Earth ;"  "  The  Mo§t  High  and  Mighty  God 
on  Earth;"  "  More  than  God,"  &c.,  &c. 

"  Pius  v.,  our  reigning  pope,  is  prince  over  all  na- 
tions and  kingdoms,  and  ho  has  power  to  pluck  up,  scat- 
ter, plant,  ruin  and  build." — Cano7i  of  the  Council  of 
Trent, 

"  All  mortals  are  judged  by  the  pope,  and  the  pope 
by  nobody." — Later  an  Canon, 
13* 


154  POPES — THEIR  PRETENSIONS, 

"  It  is  necessary  to  salvation  that  all  Christians  be 
subject  to  the  pope." — Po-pe  Boniface  VIII. 

"  Ireland,  and  all  the  isles  on  which  Christ,  the  holy- 
sun  of  righteousness  hath  shone,  do  belong  to  the  patri- 
mony of  St.  Peter  and  the  holy  Catholic  Church" — Bull 
of  Pope  Adrian. 

"  He  (the  pope)  alone  has  the  right  to  assume  em- 
pire. All  nations  must  kiss  his  feet.  His  name  is  the 
only  one  to  be  uttered  in  the  churches.  It  is  the  only 
name  in  the  world.  He  has  the  right  to  depose  empe- 
rors. No  council  can  call  itself  general  without  the 
consent  of  the  pope.  No  chapter,  no  book  can  be  re- 
puted canonical  without  his  authority.  No  one  can  in- 
validate his  sentence ;  he  can  abrogate  those  of  all 
others.  He  cannot  be  judged  by  any.  All  persons 
whatsoever  are  forbidden  to  condemn  him  who  is  called 
to  the  apostolic  chair.  The  Church  of  Home  is  never 
wrong,  and  will  never  fall  into  error.  Every  Eoman 
pontiff  when  ordained  becomes  holy." — Bull  of  Gre- 
gory VII 

**  The  pope  is  supreme  over  all  the  world,  may  im- 
pose taxes,  and  destroy  crowns  and  castles  for  the  pre- 
servation of  Christianity." — St.  Thomas  Aquinas. 

"  The  supremacy  of  the  pope  over  all  persons  and 
things  is  the  main  substance  of  Christianity." — Bellar- 
mine. 

"  The  pope  is  crowned  with  a  triple  crown,  and  is 
constituted  over  his  (God's)  hand  to  regulate  concern- 
ing all  inferiors  ;  he  opens  heaven,  sends  the  guilty  to 
hell,  confirms  emperors,  and  orders  the  clerical  or- 
ders."— Antonius  of  Florence,  Diet.  40,  Si  Papa. 

"  The  pope  is*  the  only  Vicar  of  God ;  his  power  is 
over  all  the  world,  Pagan  as  well  as  Christian,  the  only 
Vicar  of  God,  who  has  supreme  power  and  empire  over 


ELECIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  155 

all  princes  and  kings  of  the  esiith.'—Blareus,  Be  Rom. 
Eccl,  Art.  5,  sec.  19. 

'*  The  pope  has  supreme  power  over  kings  and  Chris- 
tian princes ;  he  may  remove  them  from  office,  and  in 
their  place  put  others." — Brovius,  Be  Rom.  Pontiff, 
Cap.  46,  p.  62. 

"  The  pope  is  the  Lord  of  the  whole  world.  The 
pope  has  temporal  power;  his  temporal  power  is  most 
eminent.  All  other  powers  depend  on  the  pope." — 3far- 
cinus,  Jure  Princep.  Rom.,  Bib.  2,  cap.  1,  2. 

"The  pope  is  divine  monarch,  supreme  emperor  "and 
king.  Hence  the  pope  is  crowned  with  a  triple  crown, 
as  king  of  heaven,  of  earth,  and  of  hell.  He  is  also 
above  angels ;  so  that  if  it  were  possible  that  angels 
could  err  from  the  faith,  they  could  be  judged  and  ex- 
communicated by  the  pope." — Feraris  in  Papa,  Art. 
11,  M.  10. 

"  The  vicar  of  God  in  the  place  of  God,  remits  to  man 
the  debt  of  a  plighted  promise." — Bens.  4,  134. 

"  The  pope  can  do  all  things  that  he  wishes  to  do, 
and  is  empowered  by  God  to  do  all  things  that  he  him- 
self can." —  Tiba. 

"  The  pope  can  transubstantiate  sin  into  duty,  and 
duty  into  sin." — Bur  and. 

"  The  bishop  of  Eome  cannot  even  sin  without  being 
praised. ' ' — Iloscovius. 

"  God's  tribunal  and  the  pope's  tribunal  are  the 
same." — 3foscovius. 

From  the  loftiness  of  these  pretensions,  we  are  invol- 
untarily impelled  to  look  to  the  holy  fathers  for  cor- 
responding principles,  character  and  conduct.  If  they 
possess  the  moral  attributes  of  the  deity,  they  must 


156  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

possess  also  liis  physical  attributes ;  and  if  they  pos- 
sess his  physical  attributes,  they  can  much  easier  create 
some  world  out  of  nothing  over  which  to  domineer, 
than  they  can  create  a  claim  to  all  the  crowns,  riches, 
and  territory  of  the  earth,  out  of  the  patrimony  of  St. 
Peter,  who  was  never  worth  a  cent.  If,  indeed,  the 
pope's  tribunal  and  God's  tribunal  are  the  same  ;  if  he 
above  all  in  heaven  would  be  the  proper  judge,  and 
anathematizer  of  angels,  should  any  of  them  fall ;  if  he 
can  annul  the  obligation  of  any  oath  which  man  is  un- 
der to  his  maker,  then  he  must  be  the  associate  judge 
of  God  Almighty,  equal  to  him  in  dignity,  superior  to 
him  in  jurisdiction,  and  supereminent  to  him  in  author- 
ity. If  the  pope  can  transubstantiate  sin  into  duty  and 
duty  into  sin,  he  can  annihilate  all  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong,  and  convert  the  worship  of  God  into 
a  sin,  and  the  adoration  of  himself  into  a  duty.  But 
these  extraordinary  pretensions,  if  unsupported  by  ir- 
refragable proofs  of  divine  power  and  virtue  ;  if  the 
administrative  abilitiesof  thejDopes  have  not  transcended 
those  of  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness ;  and  if  their 
monarchy  is  not  such  a  just  embodiment  of  unquestion- 
able and  universally  accepted  principles  as  has  produced 
and  maintained  among  their  subjects  on  earth  a  degree 
of  peace,  order,  and  concord  superior  to  that  which 
subsists  among  the  angels  in  heaven,  then  are  their 
pretensions  not  only  presumptous  but  ridiculous,  not 
only  arrogant  but  blasphemous ;  denying  the  existence 
of  God  by  claiming  equality  with  him,  contemning  his 
authority  by  usurping  his  prerogatives,  and  trampling 
under  foot  his  name  and  character,  by  presuming  to 
exercise  a  superior  degree  of  executive  and  judicial 
authority. 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS,  157 

In  selecting  a  person  among  mortals  capable  of  fill- 
ing a  throne  so  exalted  above  the  thrones  of  earth  and 
heaven,  we  perceive  the  great  embarrassment  under 
which  those  must  have  labored  on  whom  the  difficult 
task  was  devolved.  They  claim,  however  to  have  suc- 
ceeded hy  the  aid  of  divine  inspiration,  although  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  persons  whom  they  have  se- 
lected were  in  general  the  weakest  and  most  corrupt 
men  of  their  ase. 

o 

In  the  course  of  time  and  experience  it  became  the 
custom  of  the  bishops,  on  the  demise  of  a  pope,  to  re- 
commend to  the  suffrages  of  the  college  of  cardinals  a 
suitable  person  for  his  successor.  As  the  populace 
claimed  and  enjoyed  the  prerogative  of  confirming  or 
rejecting  the  choice  of  the  bishops,  and  as  nobles,  from 
selfish  and  ambitious  motives,  often  interfered  in  the 
proceedings,  the  papal  elections  were  always  scenes  of 
excitement,  and  sometimes  of  disorder.  The  jealousy 
of  emperors  interfered  in  the  matter,  also,  claiming  the 
right  to  arbitrate  between  rival  candidates,  to  interdict 
the  consecration  of  any  pope  elect  until  the  forms  of 
his  election  should  be  inspected  by  their  deputies,  and 
approved  by  themselves,  and  to  convene  synods  for  the 
purpose  of  trying  any  of  the  holy  fathers  who  should 
be  charged  with  criminal  conduct,  and  to  punishing 
such  of  them  a^  should  be  found  guilty.  But  the  des- 
potism of  the  church,  naturally  increasing  with  her 
power,  enabled  her  eventually  to  relievo  herself  of 
these  unpleasant  restrictions,  to  assert  independence  of 
the  secular  powers,  and  to  maintain  it  by  force  of 
arms.  This  papal  triumph  removing  the  wholesome 
check  which  had  hitherto  restrained  and  softened  the 
14 


158  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

violence  of  episcopal  ambition,  left  tlie  claims  of  rival 
candidates  for  the  vicarship  of  Christ  to  be  disputed  by 
the   anathemas  of  the   clergy   and  the   frenzy   of  the 
mob.     The  knell  of  a  pope's  death  became  the  tocsin  of 
war,  and  the  election  of  his  successor  a  bloody  struggle 
for  political  interest.     Eival  aspirants  appeared  in  the 
ecclesiastical  arena ;  acrimonious  contests  ensued  ;  ad- 
herents were  bought;  competitors  insulted;  votes  ex- 
torted by  threats  ;  Rome  polluted  with  blood  ;  and  the 
peace  of  Christendom  endangered.     To  defeat  a  hostile 
or  elect  a  friendly  candidate,  nobles  and  princes  would 
appeal  to  the  passions  of  the  mob,  and  excite  them  to 
ungovernable  fury.     Emperors  would  interpose  not  only 
in  the  election,  but  in  the  administration  of  a  pope. 
They  often  obliged  the  inspired  college  to  select  such  a 
candidate  as  suited  their  interest ;  sometimes  they  pre- 
vented,   and    at    other    times    anticipated   its    action. 
Through  the  influence  and  intrigues  of  two  royal  harlots, 
Theodora   and   Marozia,    the   chair   of    St.   Peter  was 
filled  with  their  lovers.      Pope  John  XII.,  when  he  was 
eighteen  years  old,   and  Pope  Benedict  IX.,  when  he 
was  twelve  years,  were,  through  the  wealth  and  power 
of    those   prostitutes,    elevated   to   the   papal    dignity. 
Pope  John  XII  was  deposed  for  ingratitude  and  trea- 
chery by  the  Emperor  Otho  I.,  who  caused  the  inspired 
college  to  elect  Leo  VII.,  and  placed  him  by  military 
force  on  the  apostolic  throne.     Pope  John  XIII.  was 
elected  by  the  inspired  college  at  the  command  of  Otho 
II.,  Pope  Clement  II.  at  the  command  of  Henry  III., 
and  Pope  Clement  III.  at  the  Command  of  Henry  IV. 
Clement  II.  was  elected  to  displace  Benedict  IX.,  Clem- 
ent III.  to  displace  Gregory  VII.,  Boniface  I.  to  dis- 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  159 

place  Dioscorus,  and  Martin  V.  to  displace  Jolin  XXII., 
Gregory  XII.  and  Benedict  XII.  three  cotemporaneous 
holy  fathers.  The  antagonistic al  popes  would  mutu- 
ally denounce  each  other  as  anti-popes,  and  tax  their 
ingenuity  to  effect  each  other's  destruction.  Benedict 
XII.  disposed  of  his  rival  by  violence ;  John  XIV.  in- 
carcerated his  in  a  dungeon,  in  ^yhich  he  starved  to 
death. 

Besides  the  rivalship  which  infuriated  opposing  candi- 
dates, and  the  intermeddling  of  princes  in  their  elec- 
tions in  order  to  secure  a  pliant  instrument  for  their 
political  designs,  the  inspired  college  itself  was  often 
rent  into  revengeful  and  irreconcilable  factions.  So 
violent  sometimes  were  these  conflicts,  that  the  col- 
lege became  divided  into  two  parties,  each  of  which 
proceeded  to  separate  churches,  and  electing  its  favor- 
ite, presented  him  to  the  people  as  having  been  chosen 
by  divine  inspiration.  Two  antagonistical  popes  thus 
being  elected  in  accordance  with  papal  usages,  divine 
inspiration,  and  canonical  law,  it  became  difficult,  with- 
out the  aid  of  another  inspired  college,  to  determine 
which  of  the  two  popes  was  the  genuine  holy 
father.  Sometimes  this  question  was  decided  by  prior- 
ity in  the  moment  of  an  election  ;  sometimes  popular 
sanction  or  imperial  preference  resolved  the  difficulty ; 
and  at  other  times  different  sections  of  Christendom 
arriving  at  opposite  conclusions,  supported  different 
popes.  At  one  period  two  popes  divided  the  patrimony 
of  St.  Peter,  the  one  reigning  over  one  portion  of  it, 
and  the  other  over  another ;  and  at  another  time  three 
popes  asserted  jurisdiction  over  it.  These  rival  holy 
fathers  would  incessantly  encounter  one  another  with 


160  POPES — THEIE   PRETENSIONS, 

bulls,  anathemas,  and  swords ;  and  invoking  foreign 
arms  in  their  support  would  distract,  not  only  Kome, 
but  all  Europe,  with  their  irreconcilable  controversies. 

In  order  to  abate  the  calamity  of  the  papal  elections, 
Pope  Alexander  III.,  chosen  in  1179,  abolished  the 
mode  of  electing  a  pope  in  which  the  clergy  and 
people  participated,  and  invested  the  sole  right  in 
the  college  of  cardinals.  This  expedient  prevented 
the  frequency  of  double  elections,  and  their  tumultuous 
and  bloody  schisms.  But  still  the  disorderly  elements 
which  shook  the  church  could  not  be  entirely  eradicated 
without  the  abolishment  of  the  papal  throne.  The  pas- 
sions and  private  interests  of  the  members  of  the  sacred 
college  ;  their  wish  to  secure  the  honors  and  emoluments 
of  an  independent  reign ;  their  insidious  machinations 
to  become  popes  themselves  ;  often  deprived  the  church, 
under  the  new  electoral  method,  of  the  benefits  of  a 
holy  father.  An  interregnum  of  months,  sometimes  of 
years,  would  ensue  between  the  death  of  a  pope  and 
the  election  of  his  successor,  while  disgraceful  negotia- 
tions were  always  visible.  Pope  Clement  IV.  promised 
the  crown  of  both  of  the  Sicilies  to  Charles  of  Anjou, 
on  condition  that  he  would  use  his  influence  with  the 
inspired  college  in  favor  of  his  election  to  the  papal 
throne  ;  and  Pope  Boniface  VIII.,  after  expending  large 
sums  of  money  on  an  election,  excommunicated  the 
obstinate  cardinals  who  had  refused  to  vote  for  him. 

The  ambition  and  corruption  of  the  cardinals  having 
kept  the  papal  throne  vacant  for  three  years  previous 
to  the  election  of  Gregory  X.,  he  issued  a  bull  in  1265, 
requiring  the  members  of  the  college  to  assemble  in 
Rome  nine  days  after  the  demise  of  a  pope,  and  after 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  161 

taking  an  oath  to  abjure  all  previous  understanding,  to 
retire  with  a  single  attendant  into  a  common  apart- 
ment, and  to  remain  there  until  they  should  be  able  to 
agree  on  a  choice.  If  within  three  days  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  should  not  be  sufficiently  powerful 
to  enable  them  to  arrive  at  a  canonical  agreement,  the 
luxury  of  their  repast  was  to  be, abridged  to  a  single 
dish  at  dinner  and  supper;  and  if  within  eight  days 
these  privations  should  still  be  insufficient  to  quicken 
the  divine  influence  on  the  grossness  of  human  nature, 
tne  cardinals  were  then  condemned  to  subsist  on  a  small 
allowance  of  bread,  water  and  wine.  The  stimulus  of 
this  regimen  has  seldom  failed  to  produce  a  speedy  and 
harmonious  agreement. 

But  the  corruption  of  the  Holy  See  was  the  growth  of 
ages,  and  had  carefully  been  systematized  by  the  hand 
of  experienced  craft.  It  could  not  therefore  be  entirely 
eradicated  by  any  modification  in  the  papal  electoral 
forms;  although  improvements  might  be  introduced, 
making  them  the  occasion  of  less  scandal.  The  fact 
that  an  attendant  on  a  cardinal  during  the  session  of  an 
electoral  college  is  worth  an  independent  fortune,  is 
significant  of  the  corrupt  machinations  by  which  the 
holy  fathers  continue  still  to  be  elected.  The  bull  of 
Pope  Gregory  X.  has,  ineed,  prevented  the  former  fre- 
quency of  schisms,  but  it  was  insufficient  to  prevent  one 
of  seventy  years'  duration,  which  occurred  on  the 
death  of  Pope  Benedict  XI,  in  1348.  The  inspired 
college  having  assembled  in  accordance  with  the  re- 
quirements of  the  canon,  sworn  to  abjure  all  pre- 
vious understanding,  became,  nevertheless,  divided  on 
the  question  whether  a  Frenchman  or  an  Italian  should 
14* 


162  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

be  elected  as  the  vicar  of  Christ.  Two-thirds  of  the 
cardinals  were  in  favor  of  a  Frenchman,  but  a  mob  of 
thirty  thousand  Romans  preferred  an  Italian.  "  Death 
or  an  Italian  Pope,"  shouted  an  infuriated  crowd,  as 
it  gathered  around  the  Vatican,  and  made  preparations 
for  burning  anv  of  the  inspired  college  M'ho  should  vote 
for  a  French  candidate;  while  the  cathedral  bells,  in  . 
harmony  with  the  discordant  clamor  of  the  mob,  pealed 
forth  an  ominous  warning.  Under  the  terror  of  these 
intimidations,  the  inspired  college  submitted  to  the 
wishes  of  the  mob ;  and  electing  Urban  VI.,  an  Italian, 
and  presenting  him  to  the  populace  declared,  according 
to  usage,  that  they  had  been  inspired  to  choose  him 
through  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  disap- 
pointed cardinals  disguised  their  mortification  under 
the  warmest  congratulations  to  the  newly  elected  pope, 
but  gratified  their  secret  malice  by  entering  into  clan- 
destine negotiation  with  Philip  IV.,  King  of  France, 
and  stipulating  with  hinr  to  accommodate  his  interest 
by  electing  a  pope  in  the  place  of  Urban,  who  should 
conform  to  his  washes  in  all  things.  After  having  by 
flattery,  and  professions  of  friendship  and  allegiance, 
sufficiently  deceived  the  vicar  of  Christ,  they  retired 
to  Fundi,  and,  excommunicating  him,  elected  Pope 
Clement  in  his  place.  The  papal  monarchy  hence  be- 
came divided  into  two  antagonistical  bodies,  the  one 
having  its  capitol  at  Rome,  the  other  at  Avignon  m 
France. 

The  aspirants  to  the  dignity  of  the  vicarship  of 
Christ  endeavored,  in  general,  to  obtain  its  holy  honors 
by  the  employment  of  artifice  and  intrigue.  They  were 
ready  to  flatter  any  power,  assume  any  semblance,  agree 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  165 

to  any  terms,  and  profess  any  sentiment  that  promised 
to  favor  their  design.  At  the  council  of  Constance, 
Pope  Martin  V.  advocated  the  most  liberal  ecclesiasti- 
cal reforms,  but  recanted  his  heresy  as  soon  as  he  ob- 
tained the  triple  crown.  Pope  Alexander  VI.  was 
elected  by  bribing  Cardinals  Cibo,  Spozza  and  Kearis. 
Pope  Alexander  VIL.  while  a  cardinal,  assumed  the 
semblance  of  great  humility  and  sanctity,  but  no  sooner 
had  he  become  a  successor  of  St,  Peter,  than  he  threw 
ojQf  the  cumbrous  mask  by  which  he  gained  the  honor, 
and  openly  began  a  course  of  dissipation  and  luxurious 
indulcrence.  Sixtus  VL  played  a  deep  and  crafty  game 
to  win  the  papal  crown.  In  order  to  deceive  the  car- 
dinals he  assumed  the  appearance  of  an  infirm  old  man, 
deaf,  blind,  and  scarcely  able  to  hobble  on  a  crutch ; 
and  who  desired  nothing  but  obscurity,  devotion  and 
repose.  By  the  agency  of  the  confessional  he  correctly 
informed  himself  of  the  wishes  of  princes  and  the  secret 
designs  of  cardinals.  Under  a  mask  of  profound  dis- 
simulation he  gained  the  confidence  of  kings  and  nobles, 
and  evaded  the  scrutiny  of  cardinals.  Having  trans- 
formed himself  into  the  semblance  of  such  a  convenient 
tool  as  the  members  of  the  college  desired  to  place  on 
the  apostolic  throne,  they  chose  him  unanimously ; 
but  repented  of  it  unanimously  immediately  afterwards. 
No  sooner  had  the  electoral  formalities  been  con- 
concluded  than,  in  the  presence  of  the  cardinals,  he 
raised  himself  from  his  former  stooping  position,  con- 
temptuously threw  away  liis  crutch,  and  with  a 
bounding  and  vigorous  step  displayed  to  the  horror 
consternation  of  the  sacred  college  that  it  had  chosen 
for  a  holy  father,  not  a  pliant  simpleton,  but  a  man  of 


164  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

authority,  determination,  and  sagacity.  Pope  Celes- 
tine  was  elected  solely  on  account  of  his  ignorance 
and  mental  imbecility.  For  twenty-seven  months 
the  disputes  of  the  cardinals  had  kept  the  papal 
throne  without  an  incumbent.  To  conciliate  their 
differences  they  finally  agreed  to  elect  Celestine, 
who  was  celebrated  for  his  intellectual  deficiency 
and  profound  ignorance  of  the  world.  When  this 
holy  father  entered  Apulea  after  his  consecration, 
he  symbolically  rode  upon  an  ass.  But  his  incapabil- 
ity of  transacting  the  ordinary  business  the  Holy  See, 
obliged  the  sacred  college  to  reassemble,  and  endeavor 
by  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  select  a  more  suitable 
vicar  of  Christ.  It  succeeded  in  electing  Boniface 
VIII.,  who  possessed  more  business  capacity,  but  less 
moral  integrity  ;  and  who,  standing  in  mortal  dread  of 
his  simple  and  unaspiring  predecessor,  and  fearing  the 
instability  of  the  apostolic  throne  while  he  was  at 
large,  pusillanimously  imprisoned  him  for  life. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  while  distant  potentates 
trembled  at  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican,  the  subjects 
of  Rome  scoffed  with  impunity  at  its  insolent  preten- 
sions. The  tyranny  and  corruption  of  the  holy  fathers 
have  frequently  been  met  with  contempt  and  insurrec- 
tion by  the  populace.  The  cardinals  have  at  times 
been  stripped,  beaten,  and  trodden  under  foot.  The 
priests  have  been  caught  by  mobs,  which,  after  digging 
out  their  eyes,  and  crowning  their  heads  with  ludicrous 
mitres,  have  sent  them  as  admonitions  to  the  pope. 
The  sacred  processions,  headed  by  the  holy  fathers, 
have  been  saluted  with  showers  of  stones.  The  vice- 
gerents of  God,  while   on  the   apostolic  throne,  have 


ELECTIONS  AND  ADMINISTRATIONS.  165 

been  seized  by  the  throat,  rudely  buffeted,  torn  from 
their  chair  and  incarcerated  in  dungeons.  Laudislaus, 
King  of  Naples,  whom  the  pope  had  entitled  "  Gen- 
eral of  the  Church,''  in  consideration  of  serviceb  ren- 
dered, thrice  afterwards  entered  Rome  as  a  master, 
profaned  the  churches,  violated  the  virgins,  plundered 
the  citizens,  and  worshipped  at  the  shrine  of  St.  Peter, 
The  holy  fathers,  assailed  by  subjects  at  home  and 
princes  abroad,  were  constantly  fleeing  from  the  inse- 
cure patrimony  of  St.  Peter  to  find  refuge  in  France, 
Anangni,  Perugia,  Yiterbo,  or  some  other  locality. 
Sometimes  they  retaliated  the  insults  of  their  Catholic 
subjects,  and  levied  armies  to  chastise  them ;  and,  on 
one  occasion  they  had,  in  a  friendly  conference,  eleven 
deputies  of  the  people  murdered  in  cold  blood,  and 
their  bodies  cast  into  the  streets. 

When  the  Holy  See  was  transplanted  from  Pome  to 
Avignon,  the  vices,  corruption,  and  tumults  which  were 
characteristic  were  transplanted  along  with  it.  The 
same  popular  insubordination  and  papal  insecurity  pre- 
vailed ;  the  people  were  seditious  and  the  popes  in- 
sulted. A  Catholic  freebooter  at  the  head  of  his  band, 
once  entered  Avignon,  plundered  the  people  and 
churches,  compelled  the  pope  and  cardinals  to  ransom 
themselves  by  the  payment  of  an  enormous  sum  of 
gold,  and  to  absolve  him  and  his  fellow  robbers  from 
the  guilt  of  the  transaction,  and  from  all  their  crime. 

Notwithstanding  the  ostentatious  sanctity  and  gor- 
geous show  with  which  the  church  invests  her  external 
form,  her  throne  has  never  been  occupied  by  a  distin- 
guised  paragon  of  virtue ;  nor  has  it,  notwithstanding 
her  liberal  indulgence  to  moral  turpiturd,  often  been 


166  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

graced  by  those  whom  she  dared  to  canonize  for  the 
purity  of   their  conduct.      High  principled   and  lofty 
minded  men  have  scorned  to  aspire  to  her  dignities ; 
and  had  they  not,  they  still  could  not  have  stooped  to 
the  dishonorable  means  by  which  they  are  to  be  ob- 
tained.    With  pretensions  demoralizing  her  officials  by 
destroying  their  sense  of  moral  accountability,  fostering 
their  vanity,  pride  and  superciliousness,  and  dissolving 
all  restraints  on  the  instigations   of  malice,  revenge, 
cupidity,  licentiousness,  duplicity  and  tyranny,  it  would 
be  absurdity  to  expect  to  find  in  their  character  any 
exalted  degree   of  moral  excellence.      Look    at   those 
whom   the  inspired  college  has    chosen    vicegerent  of 
God.      Where  we    might  expect    to   see    the    Solons, 
Cimons,  and  Catos  of  the  age,  we  always  see  despotism, 
generally  duplicity,   and  often  profligacy  and   cruelty. 
Look  at  Pope  Gregory,  the  Great.     Was  he  not  an  as- 
piring and  unscrupulous  despot  ?     While  pretending  to 
wish  to  be  unknown,  did  he  not  employ  every  device  to 
become   the  most  notorious  man  of  his  age.     To  pave 
his  way  to  the  pontifical  throne,  ho  devoted  his  patri- 
mony to  the  use   of  convents,  and  immured  himself  in 
them.     By  seeming   to  resist,  he   secured  his  election  ; 
and  by  addressing  an  artful  remonstrance  against  its 
confirmation  to  the  emperor,  he  removed  every  obstacle 
in   the   way    of    his    consecration.      To  disguise   more 
deeply  his  ambition,  he  solicited  a  merchant,  whom  he 
knew    could    not    accommodate    him,    to    convey  him 
secretly  from  Rome  ;  and,  finally,  overacted  his  part  by 
secreting  himself  in   a  wilderness,  and  building  a  fire 
that   his   retreat   might  be  discovered.     His  financial 
skill  was  unquestioned.     He  induced  Eecared,  King  of 


ELECIONS   AND  ADMINISTBATIONS.  167 

Spain,  to  exchange  a  great  amount  of  gold  and  a  valu- 
able collection  of  jewels  for  a  few  hairs  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  a  piece  of  the  true  cross,  a  key  which,  it 
was  alleged,  contained  some  grains  of  a  chain  with 
which  St.  Peter  had  been  shackled  while  in  a  dungeon. 
He  also  sanctified  the  most  atrocious  assassination  that 
was,  perhaps,  ever  perpetrated.  The  Roman  legions 
having  become  demoralized,  the  Emperor  Maurice  at- 
tempted to  reduce  them  to  order  by  the  enforcement  of 
rigorous  military  discipline.  This  effort  produced  a 
general  dissatisfaction  among  the  troops,  which  culmi- 
nated in  the  election  of  Phocus,  an  obscure  soldier,  in 
the  place  of  Maurice.  The  emperor,  desirous  of  restor- 
ing tranquility  to  the  nation,  magnanimously  abdicated 
the  purple.  Never  having  heard  of  the  name  of 
Phocus  before,  he  inquired  of  his  general  who  he  was. 
"  Alas,"  replied  he,  "a  great  coward,  and  I  fear  will 
be  a  murderer."  This  prophecy  was  soon  fulfilled. 
Phocus  sent  to  the  private  dwelling  of  Maurice  assas- 
sins, who,  before  the  eyes  of  their  father  coldly  butch- 
ered his  five  sons,  and  then  consummated  the  horrible 
tragedy  with  the  murder  of  the  emperor  himself.  After 
this  barbarous  act  had  been  perpetrated.  Pope  Gregory, 
although  he  owed  his  elevation  to  the  indulgence  of 
Maurice,  complimented  Phocus  on  his  good  fortune,  and 
rejoiced  that  his  piety  and  benignity  had  raised  him  to 
the  imperial  throne. 

From  this  model  pope  let  us  turn  to  Pope  John  XII., 
elected  in  956.  In  ambition  unprincipled,  in  cruelty 
inexorable,  in  dissoluteness  cold  and  calculating ;  the 
annals  of  history  scarcely  furnish  an  equal  compound  of 
moral  deformity.     Elevated  to  the  papal  throne  through 


168  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

the  influence  of  a  prostitute,  he  made  the  principles  of 
his  patroness  the  maxims  of  his  conduct.  He  was  a 
drunkard,  a  profligate,  a  blasphemer,  and  a  murderer. 
He  passed  his  time  in  hunting  and  gambling.  He 
swore  by  the  Pagan  Gods  and  Goddesses.  He  lived  in 
public  adultery  with  Roman  matrons.  He  converted 
the  papal  palace  into  a  brothel,  and  made  it  a  school  for 
education  in  the  arts  of  prostitution.  His  rapes  of 
widows,  wives,  and  virgins  were  so  frequent,  that  fe- 
male pilgrims  were  deterred  from  visiting  the  tomb  of 
St.  Peter,  for  fear  of  being  violated  by  the  holy  father 
while  kneeling  at  his  shrine,  to  invoke  his  aid  in  the 
practice  of  chastity  and  piety. 

Now  advert  to  Gregory  VII.,  elected  in  1075,  and 
see  what  baseness,  trickery,  avarice,  and  insolence  have 
been  consecrated  as  holy  in  the  character  of  a  vicar  of 
Christ.  Protected  from  reproach  by  his  claim  to  infal- 
libility, he  presumed  to  outrage  the  sense  of  common 
decency  by  living  with  the  Countess  Matilda  under  sus- 
picious circumstances  ;  and  conceiting  that  he  was  en- 
dowed with  supreme  power  over  all  kings  and  govern- 
ments, and  that  if  they  resist  his  authority  he  must 
punish  them,  he  undertook  to  dethrone  Henry  IV.,  Em- 
peror of  Germany  and  Italy,  because  that  prince  had 
exercised  the  right  of  investiture  contrary  to  the  inter- 
diction of  the  papal  bulls.  For  this  insolent  proceed- 
ure  the  emperor  determined  to  depose  him,  and  drive 
him  from  Rome.  Penetrating  the  emperor's  design,  he 
attempted  to  defeat  it  by  buying  the  adherence  of  the 
Italian  populace;  but  this  movement  was  effectually 
counterpoised  by  the  emperor's  purchasing  the  support 
of  the  Italian  nobility.     He  also  convened  acouncil  at 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  169 

by  whicli  Gregory  was  deposed ;  and  another  at  Brisen 
at  which  Clement  III.  was  elected.  To  place  Clement 
in  possession  of  the  papal  dignity,  Henry  formed  a 
coalition  with  the  Emj^eror  Alexius:  to  defeat  this  pro- 
ject Gregory  formed  an  alliance  with  Robert  Guiscard, 
Duke  of  Apulia.  The  arms  of  Robert  were  victorious, 
and  Gregory  was  delivered  from  his  perilous  situation. 
But  victory  sometimes  is  as  disastrous  as  defeat.  The 
formidable  allies  of  the  holy  father,  which  success  had 
introduced  into  the  city  of  Rome,  comprehended  a  nu- 
^aerous  band  of  Saracens  who  hated  the  Christian  name 
and  capital,  although  they  had  for  money  and  the 
license  of  war  been  induced  to  take  up  arms  in  defence 
of  the  sacerdotal  monarch.  A  furious  sedition  happen- 
ing to  arise  in  the  city  among  the  inhabitants,  the  Sara- 
cens eagerly  availed  themselves  of  the  occasion  to 
gratify  their  hatred  of  Rome  and  of  Christianity.  They 
commenced  murdering  the  citizens,  plundering  dwel- 
lings, profaning  churches,  and  firing  buildings;  nor 
was  their  revenge  satiated  until  they  had,  not  only  de- 
populated the  city,  but  reduced  the  greater  portion  of 
it  to  ashes.  This  catastrophe  completed  the  disgrace 
of  Gregory.  Finding  himself  universally  detested  as 
its  author,  he  had  to  flee  for  safety  to  Salerno,  leaving 
Henry  to  consummate,  without  opposition,  his  design  of 
placing  Clement  III.  upon  the  apostolic  throne. 

From  the  conduct  of  this  crafty  and  talented  sacerdo- 
tal despot,  let  us  turn  a  glance  at  pope  Innocent  II., 
elected  in  1130.  The  elevation  of  this  Pope  was  the 
tocsin  of  a  war  which,  during  his  administration,  kept 
Rome  and  Italy  in  a  state  of  violent  convulsion.  The 
sacred  college  not  being  able  canonically  to  concur  in 
15 


170         POPES — THEIR  PRETENSIONS, 

His  election,  became  divided  into  two  obstinate  factions, 
each  of  whicb  elected  a  vicegerent  of  God ;  the  one 
being  Pope  Innocent  II.,  and  the  other  Pope  Anaclitns. 
Two  implacable  despots  being  thus  authorized  to  claim 
the  papal  throne,  a  furious  holy  war  was  inevitable. 
Anaclitus  having  the  heavier  artillery  drove  Innocent 
from  Rome;  but  France  and  Germany  espousing  the 
cause  of  the  fugitive,  enabled  him  to  secure  a  sufficient 
army  to  effect  his  return.  lie  was,  nevertheless,  obliged 
to  limit  his  papal  jurisdiction  to  one  portion  of  the 
city;  his  antagonist  being  too  strongly  entrenched  in 
the  other  to  be  dislodged.  But  even  from  this  limited 
domain  he  was  again  driven  by  the  arms  of  his  formid- 
able rival,  and  again  reinstated  by  the  forces  of  the 
temporal  power.  The  two  holy  fathers  continued  to 
hate,  persecute  and  anathematize  each  other,  until 
death  settled  the  sanguinary  controversy  by  the  removal 
of  Anaclitus.  Relieved  of  the  terrors  of  a  powerful 
adversary,  Innocent  II.  convoked  the  Lateran  Council, 
in  which  one  thousand  bishops  condemned  the  soul  of 
Anaclitus,  and  excommunicated  Rogers  of  Sicily  for 
having  supported  the  schismatic.  On  account  of  this 
papal  insolence,  Robert  declared  war  against  Pope  In- 
nocent ;  and  taking  him  prisoner,  obliged  him  to  ab- 
solve him  from  the  sentence  of  the  excommunication, 
and  to  invest  him  with  the  papal  provinces  of  Apulia, 
Capua,  and  Calibria. 

Let  us  now  direct  a  moment's  attention  to  Pope  Inno- 
cent III,  elected  in  1198,  who,  when  receiving  the 
triple  crown  exclaimed  :  "  The  church  has  given  me  a 
crown  as  a  symbol  of  temporalities  she  has  conferred 
on  me  a  mitre  m  token  of  spiritual  power ;— a  mitre  for 


ELECIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  "  171 

the  priesthood  ;  a  crown  for  the  kingdom  ;  making  me 
the  vicar  of  him  who  bears  on  his  garments  and 
thighs,  '  The  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords.'" 
Inflated  with  this  popular  conceit  he  imagined  that  he 
was  supreme  prince  over  all  nations  and  kingdoms,  and 
that  he  had  a  divine  light  to  pluck  up,  destroy,  scatter, 
ruin,  plant  and  build  whenever  a  notion  happened  to  in- 
spire his  presumptuous  brain.  He  arbitrarily  obliged 
the  prefect  of  Eome  to  swear  allegiance  to  him,  de- 
manded royal  homage  of  Marguard  of  Eomagna,  and 
upon  the  refusal  of  that  prince  to  compromise  his  sov- 
reignty  by  submitting  to  such  unwarrantable  dictations, 
deprived  him  of  the  duchy  of  Mark  Ancona.  With 
a  despotic  hand  he  wrung  Spoleto  from  Duke  Conrad. 
He  excommunicated  Philip  of  France  for  having  repu- 
diated his  wife,  and  obliged  him  to  sue  for  mercy  at  his 
feet.  He  deposed  King  John,  of  England,  for  refusing 
to  confirm  the  election  of  a  bishop ;  instigated  France 
to  declare  war  against  him,  obliged  him  to  resign  his 
kingdom  to  the  See  of  Rome,  to  pay  large  sums  of 
money  for  absolution,  and  to  hold  his  throne  as  a  papal 
fief.  He  exercised  an  oppressive  despotism  over  the 
temporal  provinces  of  Christendom,  established  inqisi- 
sitorial  tribunals,  suspended  religious  worship  by  inter- 
dicts, and  urged  the  cruel  persecution  of  the  Albigen- 
ses.  When  his  military  forces  were  ready  for  combat, 
he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  :  "  Sword,  sword,  whet 
thyself  for  vengeance." 

Turn  from  this  ornament  of  the  papal  throne,  and  con- 
sider the  character  and  administration  of  Pope  Boni- 
face VIII.,  elected  in  1295.  Pliable  and  revengeful, 
presumptuous  and  ambitious,  he  sought  to  make  tools  of 


172  POPES — THEIR   PEETENSIONS, 

princes,  and  slaves  of  subjects.  On  his  way  to  the 
Lateran  palace,  after  his  election,  the  King  of  Hungary 
and  the  King  of  Sicily,  in  token  of  their  inferior  rank, 
held  the  bridle  of  his  horse ;  and  with  crowns  on  their 
heads  waited  on  him  at  table  as  menials.  He  boldly 
excommunicated  Philip  IV.,  of  France,  but  cowardly 
sought  to  escape  the  penalty  by  taking  refuge  in  the 
fortress  of  Anangni.  While  luxuriating  in  this  sumpu- 
ous  retreat,  in  fancied  security,  William  of  Nosgeret  sur- 
rounded the  palace  with  three  hundred  horse,  and  a 
scuffle  ensued  in  which  the  vicegerent  of  God  was 
rudely  seized  by  the  throat,  severely  kicked  and  cuffed, 
and  cast  into  prison.  A  mob,  however,  soon  released 
him  from  confinement.  In  view  of  his  flagitious  and 
undeniable  acts  of  duplicity,  simony,  usurpation  and 
profligacy,  King  Philip  had  resolved  to  summon  a  coun- 
cil at  Lyons  for  the  purpose  of  deposing  him  ;  but  the 
chastisement  of  incarceration  which  he  had  undergone 
so  mortified  his  pride,  that  within  three  days  after  his 
liberation  he  died  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage  and  fury. 

Look  at  the  character  of  Pope  Alexander  III.,  elected 
in  1159,  who,  demoralized  and  misled  by  papal  preten- 
sions, distracted  all  Europe,  and  kept  the  Holy  See  in  a 
state  of  perpetual  insurrection.  Under  the  protection 
of  Frederic  I.  the  anti-popes  Victor  III.,  Pascal  III., 
and  Calaxtus  III.,  successively  arose  against  him  ;  re- 
peatedly driving  him  from  Ptome ;  sometimes  to  France  ; 
sometimes  to  Anangni ;  and  sometimes  to  Venice.  But 
fortune  eventually  favoring  him,  he  wreaked  the  heavi- 
est vengeance  on  the  heads  of  his  antagonists.  He 
obliged  Frederic  to  kiss  his  feet,  and  to  hold  the  stirrup 
of  his  horse.     He  laid  Scotland   under   an   interdict. 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  173 

He  restored  the  thrones  of  England  and  Germany  on 
conditions  that  augmented  his  power.  And  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  apostolic  authority  gave  the  world  calami- 
tous proof  that  ecclesiastical  supremacy  is  incompatible 
with  the  peace  of  the  world. 

Regard  for  an  instant  the  character  of  Pope  Alex- 
ander VI.,  elected  in  1523,  who  perfected  in  his  papal 
character  the  dissipation  w^hich  had  disgraced  his  youth. 
His  policy,  both  domestic  and  foreign,  was  base,  treach- 
erous and  execrable.  He  undertoolj  to  seize  on  the 
Italian  provinces  by  the  most  cruel  and  dishonorable 
methods.  He  attempted  to  extort  money  from  the 
different  sections  of  Christendom  by  fraud  and  force. 
He  seduced  his  own  daughter  ;  and  gave  notorious  evi- 
dence of  the  profligacy  of  his  life  by  five  illegitimate 
children.  He  conspired  with  his  son,  Cardinal  Ccesar 
Borgia,  to  poison  four  cardinals,  but  the  conspirators 
drinking  the  poison  themselves,  became  the  victims  of 
their  own  treachery. 

Look  at  Pope  Julius  II.,  elected  in  1505,  and  mark 
his  savage,  ferocious,  and  warlike  character.  Ambi- 
tious of  military  renown,  he  commanded  his  army  in 
person,  and  without  regard  to  the  rights  of  nations  or 
individuals  gratified  his  lust  of  power  and  dominion. 
In  the  prosecution  of  the  interests  of  the  Holy  See,  he 
excommunicated  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  gave  Navara  to 
Spain,  besieged  Muandolo,  colleagued  against  the  repub- 
lic of  Venice,  and  made  war  upon  Louis  XII.,  King  of 
France. 

Behold  Clement  V.,  elected  in  1305,  and  mark  the 
gross  simony,  nepotism,  and  arrogance  which  disgraced 
his  administration.  Hear  him  excommunicating  Henry 
15* 


174  POPES — THEIR   PEETEXSIOKS, 

VII.  of  Germany,  and  his  allies,  for  Lis  refusing  to  me- 
diate between  him  and  Robert ;  and  hear  him  pro- 
nouncing a  curse  on  the  Venitians  for  their  refusing  to 
submit  to  his  dictation  ;  declaring  them  infamous,  con- 
fiscating their  gold  and  war  vessels,  abolishing  their 
governmental  offices,  and  absolving' the  subjects  from 
obedience  to  the  laws. 

Turn  to  John  XXII.,  elected  in  1410,  and  see  if  any 
vice,  public  or  private,  debarred  a  candidate  from  the 
papal  throne.  In  his  youth  a  pirate,  the  sanctity  of  his 
pontifical  character  neither  restrained  nor  concealed  the 
precocious  viciousness  w^hich  he  had  manifested. 
Although  he  may  have  amused  himself  with  the  popish 
conceit  that  a  holy  father  cannot  sin  without  being 
praised,  yet  the  Council  of  Constance,  on  the  testimony 
of  thirty-seven  good  Catholic  witnesses,  found  seventy 
indictments  against  him,  and  degraded  him  from  the 
papal  dignity.  Among  the  crimes  for  which  he  was 
deposed  were  simony,  murder,  rape,  sodomy,  and  illicit 
intercourse  with  his  brother's  wife,  and  with  three  hun- 
dred nuns.     This  holy  father  died  in  jail. 

Look  at  Julius  III.,  elected  in  1550,  whose  unnatural 
licentiousness  transcending  all  bounds  of  decency, 
sought  its  gratification  with  boys,  men,  and  even  cardi- 
nals. Hear  Sixtus  V.,  in  the  college  of  cardinals,  pro- 
nouncing a  eulogy  on  the  assassinators  of  Henry  III. 
King  of  France,  and  comparing  them  with  Judith  and 
Eleazer.  Hear  Alexander  I,  as  he  placed  his  foot  on 
Frederic,  King  of  Denmark,  exclaim :  "  Thus  shalt 
thou  tread  upon  the  lion  and  the  adder."  Hear  Pius 
v.,  as  he  excommunicated  Queen  Elizabeth,  exclaim : 
"  I  have  this  day  set  thee  over  the  nations,   over  the 


ELECTIONS   AXD   AD^-IINISTRATIOXS.  175 

kingdoms,  to  root  out,  to  pull  down,  to  destroy,  to  build 
up  and  to  throw  down."  AVitness  Pope  Leo  III.  ab- 
ruptly crowning  Charlemagne,  and  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  worl  investing  him  with  all  the  titles,  hon- 
ors, and  regal  ornaments  of  the  Caesars.  Witness 
Gregory  IV.  fomenting  discord  between  Charlemagne 
and  his  sons,  then  between  the  sons  themselves,  then 
tampering  with  the  officers  of  the  imperial  army,  then 
absolving  them  from  their  oath  of  allegiance,  then  ut- 
tering to  Louis  I.,  son  and  successor  of  Charlemagne, 
that  arrogant  assertion  :  "  Know  my  chair  is  above  the 
emperor's  throne  ;"  and  ultimately  see  the  design  of 
these  atrocious  acts,  in  the  claim  of  the  subsequent 
popes  to  the  dominion  of  the  Csesars,  by  virtue  of  the 
donation  of  Charlemagne. 

Look  at  the  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  popes 
that  have  filled  the  papal  chair :  Twenty-four  of  them 
were  anti-popes ;  twenty-six  were  deposed ;  nineteen 
were  compelled  to  abandon  Rome ;  twenty-eight  were 
kept  on  their  throne  only  by  foreign  intervention  ;  fifty- 
four  were  obliged  to  rule  over  foreign  parts  ;  sixty-four 
died  by  violence ;  eighteen  were  poisoned ;  one  was 
shut  up  in  a  cage  ;  one  was  strangled ;  one  smothered  ; 
one  died  by  having  nails  driven  in  his  temples  ;  one  by 
a  noose  around  his  neck ;  and  only  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three  out  of  the  whole  number  have  proved  them- 
selves at  all  worthy.  Read  the  papal  annals  ;  hear  the 
frequent  and  atrocious  anathemas  of  the  popes ;  mark 
the  vices  that  have  continued  century  after  century  to 
disgrace  the  administrations  of  the  holy  fathers,  and 
say  if  prrofane  history  affords  a  catalogue  of  monarchs 
so  black  with  crime,    so  unprincipled  in  ambition,  so 


176  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

remorseless  in  revenge.     Their  pretensions  were  made 
not  from  conscious  right,  but  to  justify  intended  usur- 
pations.    They  claimed  to  be  endowed  with  power  to 
do  whatever  God  himself  could  do,  in  order  to  forge  a 
plea  for  governing  the  world  as  despots.     They  claimed 
the  prerogative  of  absolving  subjects  from  their  oaths 
of  allegiance,  that  they  might   rule   kings  with  abso- 
lute authority.     They  claimed  that  they  could  not  sin 
without  being    praised,  that  they  might  commit  any 
crime  without  being  censured.     They  claimed  the  abil- 
ity of  transubstantiating   sin  into  duty,  and  duty  into 
sin,  that  they  might  justify  themselves  in  adopting  any 
means  to  obtain  an  end.     They  claimed  all  the  author- 
ity and  holiness   of  heaven,  that  they  might  be  wor- 
shijDped  and  feared  as  Gods.     But  while  they  had  the 
audacity  to  prefer  these  claims,  it  is  not  a  supposable 
case  that  the  dullest  of  them  was  such  a  stupendous 
fool  as  to  believe  in  the  validity  of  his  own  pretensions. 
With  a  triple   crown  on  their  heads,  with  the  keys  of 
heaven  and  hell  in  their  hands,  with  an  assertion  on 
their  lips  that  th«y  are  the  king  of  kings,  and  the  pro- 
prietors of  all  the  thrones,  domains,  revenues,  gold  and. 
gems  of  the  earth,  they  seriously  pretend  that  they  are 
the   successors  of  St.  Peter,  an  humble  fisherman,  who 
like  his  master,  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head,    and 
whose  patrimony,  which   they  claim  to  inherit,  must 
have  consisted  at  most  of  but  an  empty  purse,  a  staff,  a 
suit  of  unfashionable  garments,  and,  perhaps,  some  old 
fishing  nets.      And  while  they  have  been  elected  by 
emperors,  by  mobs,  by  arms  and  clubs,  by  bribery,  and 
by  every  species  of  corruption,  they  affirm  that  they 
have  been  chosen  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTKATIONS.  177 

The  papal  monarchy  was  neither  designed  nor  calcu- 
lated to  foster  the  growth  of  either  truth,  reason  or 
virtue.  The  policy  and  measures  w^hich  it  adopted 
were  never  intended  to  correct  vice,  but  to  make  it  ad- 
minister to  the  importance  of  its  power,  and  the  wealth 
of  its  coffers.  Its  design  has  always  been  to  reign  su- 
preme ;  and  in  conformity  with  a  policy  dictated  by 
this  design,  it  has  destroyed  every  virtue  that  obtruded 
an  obstacle  to  the  accomplishment  of  its  purposes,  and 
protected  every  vice  that  appeared  to  favor  their  suc- 
cess. 

Such  being  the  principles  of  the  papal  government,  it 
could  not  be  hoped  that  the  holy  fathers  would  be  the 
friends  of  truth  and  reform.  In  fact  they  must  have 
been  conscious  that  a  rigid  system  of  reform  would  have 
swept  them  from  their  thrones,  and  doomed  many  of 
them  to  confinement  in  the  dungeons  of  a  penitentiary. 
Accordingly  we  see  that  while  temporal  princes,  some 
clergymen,  and  numerous  laymen  loudly  demanded  re- 
form in  the  head  and  body  of  the  church,  the  popes 
strenuously  opposed  the  project  as  a  dangerous  innova- 
tion. When  summons  had  been  issued  by  temporal 
princes  for  the  assembling  of  councils  for  purposes  of 
reformation,  the  pontiffs  frequently  forbid  obedience 
to  them.  When  circumstances  have  obliged  popes  to 
issue  orders  for  the  convocation  of  such  assemblages, 
they  have  rendered  them  nugatory  by  neglecting  to  fix 
the  time  and  place  to  their  meeting.  When  compelled 
to  be  more  definite  in  their  conduct  and  language,  they 
have  endeavored,  by  changing  the  time  and  place  for 
holding  a  proposed  council,  to  defeat  the  object  which 
they  were   obliged  to  sanction.     When  their  cautious 


178  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

vacillations  have  been  summarily  arrested,  and  all  the 
obstacles  they  had  obtruded  removed,  and  a  council  for 
reform  had  been  assembled,  they  edeavored  by  base  and 
corrupt  means  to  control  its  action,  and  defeat  its  use- 
fulness. When  in  defiance  of  papal  remonstrances, 
threats  and  intrigues,  reformatory  decrees  have  been 
passed  by  councils,  the  popes  have-,  nevertheless,  at- 
tempted to  nullify  them  by  evasion,  trickery  or  ne- 
glect. 

Pope  Gregory  declared  that  a  council  could  be  useful 
only  under  a  Catholic  prince.  Pius  II.  forbid  an  ap- 
peal to  a  council.  Julius  II.  interdicted  the  assembling 
of  one  after  it  had  been  summoned.  When  the  united 
voice  of  princes  and  subjects  compelled  Pius  VII.  to 
call  a  council,  he  nullified  his  own  summons  by  ne- 
glecting to  fit  the  time  for  its  meeting.  When  a  crit- 
ical state  of  public  affairs  had  led  Pope  Paul  to  imagine 
that  he  could  shape  the  proceedings  of  an  inspired 
council  according  to  his  private  interest,  he  convoked 
the  Council  of  Trent ;  but  finding  his  intrigues  inade- 
quate to  his  ambition,  he  induced  his  legates  to  exhaust 
its  time  in  frivolous  ceremonies  and  useless  excursions. 
When  the  Council  of  Pisa  obliged  Alexander  VII.  to 
pledge  his  word  to  prosecute  certain  specified  reforms, 
he  adopted  no  measure  in  compliance  "with  his  word. 
When  the  Council  of  Basle  enacted  decrees  of  reform, 
the  artifice  of  Pope  Eugenius  rendered  them  of  no 
avail.  When  the  Council  of  Constance,  after  deposing 
three  rival  popes,  elected  Martin  V.  in  consideration  of 
the  zeal  with  which  he  had  advocated  church  reform, 
it  was  soon  apparent  that  his  zeal  for  reform  was  his 
ambition    to    be    elevated   to   the   papal   throne,    and 


ELECTIONS   AND   ADMINISTRATIONS.  179 

that  it  all  had  expired  as  soon  as  his  election  was  se- 
cure. Pope  Pius  denounced  the  reforms  which  Joseph 
II.,  of  Austria,  proposed  to  introduce  into  his  kingdom, 
and  adopted  every  expedient  to  counteract  them. 
When  the  tyranny  and  profligacy  of  the  monastic  or- 
ders had  awakened  the  indignation  of  all  Christendom, 
the  vicar  of  Christ,  by  means  of  bulls,  anathemas  and 
intrigues,  defended  them  with  ferocious  zeal.  When 
the  Jesuists  were  banished  from  England  for  treason- 
able machinations,  from  Italy  for  profligacy,  from 
Portugal  for  attempts  at  assassination,  ancl  from  the 
other  parts  of  Europe  for  execrable  conduct,  the  popes 
not  only  defended,  but  recommended  them  as  the  most 
pious  and  useful  members  of  the  church.  When  the 
papal  throne  was  restored  by  England,  a  heretic,  and 
Russia,  a  schismatic,  in  conjunction  with  the  Catholic 
powers,  after  it  had  been  abolished  by  France,  the 
pope,  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  and  resolutions  of  his 
liberators,  and  in  violation  of  the  obligations  of  honor 
and  gratitude,  restored  the  barbarous  inquisition,  the 
obnoxious  order  of  the  Jesuists,  and  the  superstitious 
practices  of  the  dark  ages. 

The  holy  mother,  indeed,  has  given  birth  to  little  be- 
sides monstosities.  The  features  and  principles  of  her 
offspring  cast  a  dark  suspicion  on  her  chastity.  They 
usually  wear  the  lineament,  if  not  the  cloven  foot  of 
the  arch-fiend.  Ambition,  duplicity,  treachery,  vicious- 
ness,  and  immorality  are  deeply  featured  in  their 
countenances,  and  some  of  them  seem  to  be  an  incarna- 
tion of  every  crime  that  could  entitle  a  human  being  to 
be  considered  as  the  off'spring  and  heir  of  hell.  If 
there  were  some  honorable  exceptions,  they  were  like 


180  POPES — THEIR   PRETENSIONS, 

stars  on  a  stormy  night,  obscured  by  the  heavy  mist 
through  which  they  shone.  Some  popes,  it  is  true, 
have  been  great  governors ;  men  of  great  foresight  and 
enterprise  ;  men  who,  looking  beyond  their  age,  have 
prepared  measures  that  have  successfully  met  future 
exegencies ;  but  their  sagacity  has  been  quickened  by 
ambition  and  avarice ;  and  their  great  talents  have 
been  wasted  on  duplicity  and  intrigue.  The  less  ex- 
ceptionable of  them  have  acknowledged  and  deplored 
the  corruption  of  the  Holy  See  ;  but  they  seem  to  think 
it  is  incurable,  for  their  hopes  of  the  future  are  always 
darkened  by  the  recollection  of  the  past.  Hence  we 
hear  Nicholas  V.,  as  he  bestowed  an  office  on  the 
worthy,  say  :  "  Take  this,  you  will  not  always  have  a 
Nicholas  to  bestow  a  gift  on  the  ground  of  merit." 


CHAPTER  XI. 
TSJB  PAPAL   MONARCHY, 


SECTION     ONE. 

The  Papa  I  Crown — Banner —  Cah  inet —  Court — Decrees 
— Jwrisprudence — Coinage — Army  and  Navy — P,e- 
venues — Oaths — a7id  Spies. 

Whatever  plausibility  the  creed  and  ritual  of  the 
Catholic  church  may  throw  around  her  religious  preten- 
sions, the  fact  is  undeniable  that  she  is  a  temporal 
power,  claiming  to  be  the  only  legitimate  sovereignty 
on  earth,  and  the  right  to  reduce  all  governments,  by 
fair  or  foul  means,  under  her  absolute  authority.  The 
pope,  the  head  of  this  unlimited  monarchv,  is  a  polit- 
ical prince  ;  his  capital  is  the  city  of  Rome,  and  his  do- 
mains, until  recently,  were  the  States  of  the  Church. 
According  to  a  practice  observed  at  the  coronation  of 
princes,  the  pope  is  invested  with  national  authority  by 
ascending  the  Chair  of  State,  and  receiving  a  head- 
dress emblematical  of  temporal  sovereignty.  These 
symbolical  headdresses  were  originally  garlands,  in- 
vented by  Prometheus  in  imitation  of  the  chains  which 
he  had  worn  for  the  redemption  of  mankind,  but 
which  in  the  course  of  time  became  applied,  by  the 
"[Iranian  priestesses  to  decorate  themselves  aud  their 
altars ;  by  lovers,  to  adorn  the  doors  of  their  mis- 
tressees  :  by  the  devout,  to  deck  the  animals  which  they 
.16 


182  THE   PAPAL 

devoted  to  sacrifice ;  by  slave  owners,  to  attract  atten- 
tion to  the  slaves  whom  the  exposed  for  sale  ;  by  rela- 
tives, to  embellish  the  corpse  of  a  deceased  friend  ;  and 
finally,  in  the   dark  ages,  when  they  were  transformed 
into  a  variety  of  fantastical  shapes,  profusely  decorated 
with  gold,  gems  and  pearls,  and  had  become  associated 
with   ideas   of   greatness,   power   and   authority,   they 
were  exclusively  appropriated  by  kings  to  symbolize 
the  regal  authority.     In  the  ninth  century,  this  practice 
having   become   fashionable   among  the    royal   classes, 
Pope  Alexander  III.,  who  was  elected  in  1159,  aspiring 
to  be  considered  rather  as  the  successor  of  kings  than 
of  a   fisherman,   ventured   to    encircle    his    sacerdotal 
mitre  with  a  regal  diadem,  emblematical  of  universal 
spiritual   sovereignty.     To   this   crown    Pope  Boniface 
VIII.,  elected  in  1295,  added  a  second,  to  symbolize  the 
pope's  universal  temporal  power ;  and   to    this  crown 
Pope  Urban  V.,  elected  in  1363,  added  a  third,  to  de- 
note the  pope's  supreme  spiritual  and  temporal  power 
over  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa.     The  adoption  of  these 
regal   emblems   by  the  holy  fathers  may  seem  in  the 
eyes  of  the  profane   to  represent  not  their  rights,  but 
their  ambition.  They  claim,  however,  to  have  been  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  adopting  their  head  decorations ; 
but  if  this  pretension  absolves  them  from  the  vice  of 
ambition,  it  limits  at  the  same  time  their  authority  to 
Europe,  Asia  and  Africa.     The  Holy  Ghost  not  having 
intimated  the  existence  of  America  in  his  social  inter- 
course with  the  23apal  monarchs,  nor  prescribed  to  them 
the   adoption    of    a   fourth    crown    to    symbolize   their 
authority  over  it,  it  is  rational  to  infer  from  these  facts 
that  he  intended  to  infer  by  his  silence,  that  the  popes 


MONARCHY.  183 

have  no  right  whatever  of  exercising  any  jurisdiction 
over  its  territory.  If  the  pope's  regalia  have  any  sig- 
nificance, it  is  that  his  government  is  restricted  to 
Europe,  Asia  and  Africa;  and  that  he  has  no  right  to 
exercise  either  temporal  or  spiritual  authority  over  any 
church,  society  or  institution,  on  the  American  conti- 
nent. But  in  sight  of  the  pope's  monarchical  palace, 
triple  crown,  and  regal  ornaments,  the  statue  of  St. 
Peter,  erected  in  the  seventh  century,  wearing  a  simple 
mitre,  stands  scoffing  at  them  in  eternal  derision. 

The  pope  as  an  independent  sovereign  has  not  only 
a  temporal  crown,  but  a  political  banner.  This  ensign 
consists  of  a  white  flag  with  a  device  of  cross-keys ;  its 
white  color  may  signify  peace  ;  the  cross-keys  the  pos- 
session of  earth  and  heaven  ;  and,  conjointly,  these  em- 
blems may  intimate  that  there  is  to  be  no  peace  until 
the  claims  of  the  pope  to  universal  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral sovereignty  is  acknowledged  by  all  nations. 
Apollo,  the  symbol  of  the  rising  sun,  and  Pluto,  the 
symbol  of  the  closing  day,  are  represented  with  keys  in 
their  hands,  to  denote  their  office  of  opening  and  shut- 
ting the  gates  of  day.  It  is  thought  by  some  that  the 
idea  of  the  papal  keys  was  borrowed  from  these  em- 
blems of  the  Pagan  Gods.  But  it  was  the  custom  of  a 
conquered  city  to  present  to  the  victor  the  keys  of  its 
gates,  through  its  officials,  in  token  of  the  submission 
of  the  inhabitants  to  his  authority.  In  conformity 
with  this  ancient  custom,  it  is  affirmed  by  the  popes 
that  Pepin,  King  of  France,  after  he  had  wrested  the 
Exarcate  from  the  possession  of  the  Lombards,  pre- 
sented the  keys  of  the  subjugated  cities  to  the  Holy 
See  on  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter.     They  assert  also,  that 


184  THE   PAPAL 

Charlemagne  presented  the  pope  with  a  banner,  and 
authorized  him  to  unfurl  it  in  the  cause  of  the  church. 
But  if  the  story  of  Pepin's  gift  is  as  empty  as  the  tomb 
of  St.  Peter,  at  Rome,  is  and  always  has  been,  of  the 
corpse  of  the  apostle  ;  and  if  Charlemagne's  donation 
of  cities,  most  of  which  he  never  pessessed,  and  the 
remainder  of  which  he  governed  as  his  own  with  the 
most  jealous  scrupulosity  until  the  day  of  his  death,  it 
is  difficult  to  perceive  how  the  popes,  by  virtue  of  these 
gifts,  can  have  any  claim  to  either  keys  or  banners. 

The  pope,  as  an  independent  sovereign,  has  also  a 
national  cabinet.  His  privy  council  is  the  college  of 
cardinals ;  his  minister  of  internal  and  foreign  affairs 
is  the  cardinal  secretary ;  his  viceroys  are  the  legates 
and  nuncios  which  he  accredits  to  foreign  powers  ;  his 
governors  and  lieutenant-governors  are  the  Catholic 
bishops  and  archbishops,  which  are  located  in  different 
parts  of  the  world;  and  his  ministers  of  finance  and 
police  are  the  priests  of  different  grades  and  orders. 
The  civil  offices  of  the  papal  monarchy  have  always 
been  filled  by  members  of  the  sacerdotal  orders,  and 
disposed  of  by  the  holy  father  for  money. 

As  an  independent  sovereign  the  pope  has  an  impe- 
rial court.  In  the  grades  of  this  court  he  himself  en- 
joys the  first  rank,  being  placed  on  an  equality  with 
God,  and  in  some  respects  above  him.  The  cardinals 
stand  next  to  princes  ;  they  wear  a  purple  mantle,  the 
emblem  of  royalty ;  formerly  they  ranked  in  Chris- 
tendom equal  with  kings,  preceded  princes  of  blood, 
and  sat  on  the  right  of  kings,  or  near  the  throne.  The 
generals  of  the  Catholic  orders,  the  abbots,  archbish- 
ops, bishops  and  priests,  consider  their  titles  as  royal, 


MONARCHY.  185 

and  maintain  that  in  consideration  of  them  they  should 
be  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction  of  civil  magistrates. 

As  an  independent  sovereign  the  pope  has  the  power 
to  issue  absolute  decrees.  The  papal  bulls,  apostolic 
briefs,  and  encyclical  letters,  are  the  exercise  of  sov- 
ereign power.  From  the  despotic  tone  of  these  docu- 
ments, sometimes  moderated  by  fear,  but  never  from 
inclination,  the  pope  evidently  claims  the  right  of  inter- 
fering not  only  in  the  ecclesiastical,  but  also  in  the 
political  affairs  of  all  nations. 

As  an  independent  sovereign  the  pope  has  a  system 
of  j  urisprudence  and  administrative  j ustice.  The  canon- 
ical law  by  which  he  governs  his  monarchy  consists  of 
the  Concordantia  Discordantiwni  or  Decretiutn  Graiiani ; 
the  Decratales  Gregorii  Noni ;  the  Liber  Sextus,  by 
Boniface  VIII ;  the  Extravagantes  Johannis  XXII ; 
the  Extravagantes  CoraTnunes,  and  the  Clementinus ; 
all  of  which  are  known  under  the  general  name  of  Cor- 
pus Juris  Canonica;  and  all  except  the  Extravagantes 
have  the  full  authority  of  law.  The  papal  system  of 
administrative  justice  consists  of  a  chief  court,  a  civil 
court,  and  an  apostolical  court.  The  apostolical  court 
regulates  the  pope's  domains  and  collects  the  taxes. 
The  members  of  the  court  are  always  bishops,  and  the 
presiding  officer  is  generally  a  cardinal. 

As  an  independent  sovereign  the  pope  has  exercised 
the  governmental  prerogative  of  coining  money.  The 
papal  coins  have  various  devices.  They  all  have  the 
cross-keys ;  most  of  them  the  trijDle  crown ;  and  some 
of  them  are  inscribed  with  the  word  Dominus. 

As  an  independent  sovereign  the  pope  has  always 
maintained,  when  possible,  an  army  and  a  navy.  Pope 
16* 


186  THE    PAPAL 

Clement  VIII.  elected  in  1523,  raised  an  army  of  regu- 
lars and  volunteers  of  thirty  thousand  foot  and  three 
thousand  cavalry.  Pope  Leo  IX.  commanded  an  army 
consisting  of  Italian  volunteers,  several  bands  of  rob- 
bers, and  seven  hundred  Suabians.  Pope  Alexander 
VI.  at  the  head  of  a  powerful  army  conquered  Bo- 
logna, Ancona,  Ravenna  and  Ferrara.  After  the  re- 
turn of  the  pope  to  Eome  from  Avignon,  in  1577,  a 
standing  army  was  formed  consisting  of  cavalry  and 
infantry. 

The  papal  military  organizations  have  been  of  the 
most  formidable  description.  The  Dominican  Knights, 
the  Teutonic  Knights,  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  and  the 
Knight  Templars,  instituted  for  the  defence  and  prop- 
agation of  Catholicism  by  the  force  of  arms,  were  skil- 
fully organized  and  rigorously  disciplined.  They  as- 
sumed the  vows  of  celibacy,  poverty  and  unconditional 
obedience.  They  were  interdicted,  by  the  terms  of  their 
charter,  from  acknowledging  any  protector  but  the 
pope,  and  were  made  independent  of  any  other  author- 
ity. Upon  becoming  initiated  into  their  orders,  the 
pope  absolved  them  from  all  human  obligations,  and 
they  were  required  to  sunder  all  human  ties.  They 
enjoyed  all  the  immunities  and  privileges  of  the  religious 
orders ;  and  in  conjunction  with  them  formed  a  standing 
army  of  three  hundred  thousand  men,  fully  equipped 
for  war,  exclusively  devoted  to  the  pope's  interest,  and 
ready  at  his  call  to  serve  him  by  land  or  sea. 

As  an  independent  sovereign  the  pope  has  a  national 
revenue.  This  revenue  is  domestic  and  foreign.  From 
official  reports  the  pope's  domestic  revenue,  in  1853, 
amounted  to  13,000,000  florins ;  his  foreign  revenue  is 


MONARCHY.  187 

not  publicly  known.  In  the  dark  ages  half  of  the 
ecclesiastical  revenues  of  Europe  flowed  into  the  church 
treasury  at  Home ;  but  at  present  the  various  streams 
of  wealth  destined  for  the  church,  are  diverted  to  con- 
venient localities,  situated  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  to  be  disbursed  according  to  regulations  pre- 
scribed by  the  holy  father.  As  the  subject  is  somewhat 
curious,  we  are  tempted  to  inquire  into  some  of  the 
sources  of  the  papal  revenue. 

One  source  of  the  pope's  revenue  is  the  sale  of  indul- 
gences, St,  Peters  Church,  at  Rome,  which  cost 
45,000,000  crowns,  was  chiefly  built  from  the  proceeds  of 
this  species  of  traffic,  William  Hogan  furnishes  some 
singular  facts  respecting  this  ingenious  device,  by  which 
the  church  accommodates  the  wishes  of  the  members 
in  the  commission  of  sin,  to  her  pecuniary  advantage. 
He  says: 

"  They  (the  pope  and  the  propagandi)  resolved  that 
indulgences  should,  in  the  future,  be  called  scapulu.% 
and  thus  piously  enable  all  Catholic  priests  and  bishops 
to  swear  on  the  Holy  Evangelists  that  no  indulgences 

were  sold  in  the  United  States The  scapula 

costs  the  purchaser  one  dollar.  The  priest  who  sells  it 
tells  him  that  in  order  to  make  it  thoroughly  efficacious, 
it  is  necessary  that  he  should  cause  some  masses  to  be 

said I  may   safely  say  that,   on   an   average, 

every  scapula  sold  in  the  United  States  costs  at  least 
five  dollars," — Synopds^ pp,  176,  177, 

The  number  of  Catholics  in  the  world  is  computed, 
by  Catholic  authority,  at  150,000,000,  Some  of  the 
papal  subjects  would  not,  perhaps,  purchase  a  scapula 
in  a  year,  while  others  might  purchase  a  hundred  ;  but 
at  the  moderate  estimate  of  one  scapula  annually  tp 


1^6  THE   PAPAL 

each  Catholic,  the  pope  would  derive  from  this  source 
an  annual  revenue  of  750,000,000  dollars.  The  sale  of 
the  scapula  would;  of  course,  be  in  proportion  to  the 
wickedness  of  the  church  members;  the  more  virtuous 
they  were  the  less  would  they  be  necessitated  to  con- 
tribute to  the  coffers  of  the  church ;  and  as  merchants 
and  traders  always  scheme  to  create  a  demand  for  their 
goods,  it  is  not  reasonable  that  either  the  pope  or  his 
priests  would  encourage  their  Catholic  subjects  in  con- 
duct that  would  render  them  of  no  value  to  them  ;  and 
that  would  injure  the  sale  and  lessen  the  demand  of 
their  articles  of  trade,  by  which  their  treasure  and 
luxuries  are  so  much  augmented. 

Another  source  of  the  pope's  revenue  are  the  masses 
which  the  church  requires  to  be  said  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  souls  of  deceased  Catholics  out  of  purga- 
tory. These  masses  were  sold  before  the  rebellion  at 
fifty  cents  a  piece ;  whether  they  have  since  risen  in 
value  in  proportion  to  other  articles,  I  have  not  the 
means  of  ascertaining.  What  number  of  masses  are 
requisite  for  conjuring  a  Cotholic  layman's  soul  up  from 
purgatory,  I  am  not  informed  ;  but  there  is  a  will  of  a 
priest  recorded  in  Towsontown,  Md..  which  bequeaths 
to  a  brother  priest  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  to 
pay  for  two  hundred  masses,  "  to  be  said  for  the  bene- 
fit of  his  poor  soul."  If  the  church  will  not  release  the 
soul  of  a  priest  from  purgatory  for  less  than  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  how  much  does  she  demand  of  a  layman 
for  a  similar  purpose?  It  would  seem  that  the  sanctity 
of  a  priest  ought  enable  her  to  get  him  out  of  the  pur- 
gatorial fire,  and  release  him  from  the  clutches  of  the 
<l€vil  for  a  much  less  sum   of  m6ney  than  would  be 


MONARCHY. 


189 


requisite  for  the  same  purpose  in  the  case  of  an  un- 
anointed  layman.  This  traffic  in  the  souls  of  dead 
men  by  the  church,  has  been  prosecuted  in  such  an 
oppressive  manner  that  her  members  have  sometimes 
been  provoked  to  remonstrate.  I  once  knew  of  a 
young  Catholic  who  charged  his  priest  with  having 
forged  a  will  in  order  to  swindle  him  out  of  a  great 
portion  of  his  maternal  inheritance.  The  pretext  on 
which  this  pious  fraud  was  attempted  to  be  based  was 
a  plea  that  the  mother  of  the  youth  had  bequeathed  to 
the  priest  a  house  of  hers,  in  payment  of  a  sufficient 
number  of  masses  for  the  release  of  her  soul  from  pur- 
gatory. The  annual  revenue  derived  by  the  pope  for 
his  service  in  opening  the  gates  of  purgatory  to  the 
devout  must  be  prodigious  ;  but  the  secrecy  with  which 
it  is  veiled  renders  a  reliable  computation  exceedingly 
difficult.  If  we  consider  the  number  of  Catholics  that 
are  in  the  world,  and  the  probable  annual  number  of 
deaths  that  occur  among  them,  and  calculate  the  sum 
of  money  which  would  be  necessary  to  deliver  the 
average  number  that  die  yearly  out  of  the  flames  of 
purgatory,  we  may  form  some  conception  of  the  vast- 
ness  of  this  resource  of  papal  revenue.  "Wars,  pesti- 
lence, bereavements  of  friends,  which  are  calamities  to 
families  and  nations,  are  pecuniary  advantages  to  the 
church ;  and  in  proportion  to  the  mortality  of  her 
members,  she  has  cause  to  rejoice  over  the  improvement 
of  her  finances. 

Another  source  of  the  pope's  revenue  are  the  pro- 
ceeds derived  from  the  sale  of  crosses,  amulets,  relics, 
pictures,  beads,  and  articles  made  by  monks  and  nuns. 
These  articles  of  pious  merchandise  are  blest  by  the 


190  THE  PAPAL 

bistop,  and  sold  sometimes  privately,  and  sometimes  at 
Catholic  fairs.  They  are  supposed  by  the  purchaser  to 
insure  him  good  luck,  and  to  keep  evil  from  his  dwel- 
ling ;  and  although  they  are  often  an  unsightly  set  of 
trumpery ;  yet  as  they  are  consecrated  by  the  bishop  s 
blessing,  which,  however,  rather  depreciates  their  in- 
trinsic value,  they  are  prized  by  the  cajoled  Catholics 
as  exceeding  in  value  either  gold  or  gems.  "We  have 
no  data  enabling  us  to  calculate  the  amount  of 
revenue  derived  by  the  pope  from  this  source  of  in- 
come ;  but  we  may  be  allowed  to  conclude  from  the 
fact  that,  as  the  church  has  availed  herself  of  its  ad- 
vantages in  all  countries  and  ages,  it  has  proved  ex- 
ceedingly remunerative. 

Another  source  of  the  papal  revenue  are  the  contri- 
butions extorted  from  laborers,  female  servants,  and 
others  of  the  industrial  classes.  I  know  of  a  servant 
girl  who  paid  one  dollar  every  autumn  towards  furnish- 
ing the  church  with  winter  fuel.  What  fuel  costs  the 
church,  I  do  not  know ;  perhaps  little  or  nothing. 
The  number  of  Catholics  in  the  United  States  are  com- 
puted by  Catholic  authority  to  amount  to  10,000,0000  ; 
and  if  each  one  contributes  one  dollar  annually  for  the 
benefit  he  derives  from  the  church  furnaces,  (and  I  am 
credibly  informed  he  does),  the  pope  receives  from  this 
source  an  annual  income  of  10,000,000  dollars.  But 
this  is  not  the  only  method  by  which  the  laboring 
classes  are  filched  out  of  their  honest  gains  by  the  holy 
mother.  On  the  regular  monthly  pay-day  of  contract- 
ors for  public  works,  and  of  mining,  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  companies,  the  priest  makes  his  appearance, 
and  exacts  a  dollar  a  month  from  each  of  the  faithful. 


MONARCHY.  Wl 

If  there   are  non-Catliolics  among  the  employes,  who 
hesitate  to  contribute  the  monthly  donation,  they  are 
insulted,  intimidated,  and  their  life  threatened  to  such 
a  degree  that  they  consider  it  prudent  to  yield  to  the 
demand,  or  seek   employment  elsewhere.     This  system 
of  extortion  is  engineered  among  the  workmen  by  some 
favorite  of  the  Catholic  priest,  who  makes  it  his  busi- 
ness  to   see   that   he   is   not    disappointed   in    getting 
his  dollar  a  month.     An  engineer  of  this  description, 
employed  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  in  his 
avidity  to  accommodate  the  priesthood  narrowly  escaped 
being  victimized   by  a  secular   sharper.     A   stranger, 
professing  to  be  a  Catholic  priest,  solicited  in  behalf  of 
his  necessities,   his  charity  and  influence.      Promptly 
heading  a   subscription  list  with  the  generous  sum  of 
two  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  he  was  soon  enabled  to  exult 
in  the  subscription  of  a  very  respectable  amount  by  his 
fellow  workmen.     The    list   was,    in    accordance   with 
usage,  handed  to  the  cashier  of  the  establishment ;  but 
before  any  money  was  paid  on  its  account  it  was  dis- 
covered  that    the     priest    was    a    spurious    one,    and 
that  the  money  he  solicited  was  not  intended  for  the 
treasury  of  the  pope,  but  for  the  pocket  of  an  uncon- 
secrated    impostor.      Catholic    periodicals,    with   com- 
mendable regard  to  their  patrons'  interest,  have    fre- 
quently published  instances  in  which  pretended  priests 
and  monks  have  successfully  gulled  the  faithful.    When 
we  consider  the  vast  proportion  of  poor  to  rich  Catho- 
lics in  the  world,  it  seems  evident  that  this  branch  of 
the  pope's  financial  machinery,  by  which  he  wins  a  dol- 
tar  a  month  from  each  of  the  industrial  classes  of  the 
Catholic   church,   must    furnish    his    coffers    with    an 


192  THE   PAPAL  -    ^ 

annual  revenue  exceeding  that  of  any  other  government.' 
Another  source  of  the  pope's  revenue  are  alms  col- 
lected by  an  order  of  lay  mendicants.  The  church,  in- 
structed by  the  practice  of  mendication  among  all  na- 
tions and  classes,  at  all  periods  of  history,  and  under 
all  circumstances,  has  been  enabled  to  perfect  a  system 
of  extraordinary  comprehensiveness,  sharpness  and  eiE-; 
ciency.  Organ  grinders,  bead  counters,  children,  mo-- 
thers  with  babes  in  their  arms,  men  without  legs,  the' 
blind,  the  deaf,  the  cripple,  any  object  that  can  touch 
the  tender  or  religious  sympathies  of  the  community, 
are  employed  as  beggars  for  the  pope  of  Eome.  This 
description  of  medicants  sometimes  openly  solicit  alms 
for  the  holy  father,  but  at  other  times  endeavor  to 
conceal  their  mission  under  a  mask  of  profound  dissim- 
ulation. The  eloquence  of  broken  noses,  distorted 
forms,  mutilated  limbs,  and  tattered  garments,  are 
made  to  plead  with  touching  pathos  in  behalf  of  the 
papal  monarch.  The  revenue  which  he  derives  from 
his  numerous  crowd  of  professional  beggars,  is  one  of 
the  secrets  of  the  Holy  See;  but  from  the  liberality 
with  which  Catholics  respond,  from  a  sense  of  religious 
duty,  and  Protestants  from  prudential  motives,  it  may. 
reasonably  be  presumed  that  it  is  not  inconsiderable.' 

Another  source  of  the  pope's  revenue  is  derived  from, 
his  foreign  possessions.  These  possessions  consist  of 
churches,  monasteries,  nunneries,  mission  houses,  edifi- 
ces for  schools,  colleges,  hospitals,  asylums,  private 
dwellings,  tracts  of  land,  and  every  other  species  of 
property.  The  papal  foreign  property  is  sometimes 
held  in  the  name  of  the  pope,  sometimes  in  that  of  a 
priest,  and  sometimes  in  that  of  a  corporation,  real  or 


MONARCHY  193 

pretended.  Every  priest  coming  to  the  United  States, 
in  order  that  he  may  legally  be  qualified  to  hold  prop- 
erty for  the  benefit  of  the  church,  is  required  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  whether  he  considers  it  consistent 
or  not  with  his  ordination  oath.  (  See  Hogan's  Synop- 
sis, p.  36).  In  1822  the  pope  claiming  to  be  the  pro- 
prietor of  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Philadelphia,  leased  it 
to  a  foreign  priest,  and  sent  him  over  to  tahe  charge  of 
it.  The  trustees,  and  ^Yilliam  Hogan,  the  recognized 
encumbent,  refusing  to  obey  the  order  of  the  pope's 
agents,  a  suit  of  ejectment  was  brought  against  them  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pensylvania.  Judge  Tilghman 
presided  at  the  trial.  He  decided  that  the  pope  could 
legally  hold  no  property  in  the  United  States,  and  sus-- 
tained  the  action  of  the  defendants.  (See  Hogan's 
Synopsis,  pp.  113,  114).  In  a  suit  brought  by  the  broth- 
ers of  the  order  of  Hermits  of  St.  Augustine,  against  the 
county  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  destruction  of  St.  Augus- 
tine's Church  by  a  mob  of  the  American  party,  it  was 
discovered  that  the  alleged  corporation  was  entirely 
spurious.  The  pretended  corporators  consisted  of  Mi- 
cheal  Hurly,  pastor  of  St.  Augustine's  Church  at  Phila- 
delphia, Prince  Gallager,  pastor  at  Bedford,  Pa.,  Lewis 
de  Earth,  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Philadelphia, 
Patrick  Henry,  pastor  at  Coffee  Run,  Chester  County, 
Pa.,  and  J.  B.  Holland,  pastor  at  Lancaster,  Pa.  So  pro- 
foundly secret  was  the  existence  of  this  company  kept, 
that  no  laymen  or  priest  outside  of  the  pretended  cor- 
porators had  ever  heard  of  it  before  the  trial,  and  as 
the  public  documents  contained  no  enrolment  of  it  in 
accordance  with  the  requirement  of  law,  it  was  pro- 
nounced entirely  spurious  and  invalid.  The  value  of 
17 


194  THE   PAPAI* 

the  property  held  in  the  name  of  this  pretended  corpo- 
ration, in  evasion  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  was 
computed  at  5,000,000  dollars.     Even  in  cities  where 
the  Catholic  population  is  deemed  numerically  insigni- 
ficant, millions  worth  of  property  of  which  the  inhab- 
itants have  not  the  slightest  conception,  is  owned  by 
the  pope,  under  cover  of  fictitious  names  or  otherwise. 
(See   Hogan's    Auric.    Confess.,  vol.   2,  p.   204,  &c). 
Whenever  the  church  has  obtained  sufficient  power  she 
has  made  a  bequest  to  the  coffers  of  the  church  a  con- 
dition to  the  validity   of  a  w^ill ;  and  where  she  has 
failed  to  acquire  this  power,  she  has  still  exacted  a  com- 
pliance with  it  from  her  members,  under  pain  of  her 
penalties.     Splendid  palaces  and  gorgeous  church  edi- 
fices alone  are  not  adequate  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of 
her  avarice,  she  must  have  lands  and  every  species  of 
wealth.      Wherever  her  priests  have  effected  a  pious 
entering  wedge  in  a  block  of  buildings,  by  means  of  a 
church  or  an  asylum,  they  must  scheme  to  work  out  the 
other  proprietors,  and  monopolize  the  whole  themselves. 
Their  covetous  eye  is  always  fixed  on  some  magnificent 
farm,  and  their  active  speculation,  or  deeper  craft,  has 
enabled  them  to  become  in  possession  of  very  desirable 
tracts  of  land.     I  know   of  a  priest  who  netted  ten 
thousand  dollars  by  a  single  land  speculation.      The 
priests,  by  means  of  the  confessional,  become  accurately 
acquainted  w4th  all  secrets,  with  every  contemplative 
movement  in  the  general  or  State  government,  or  in 
financial  corporations,  that  can  efi'ect  the  market  value 
of  lands  or  stocks ;  and  it  would  be  exceedingly  aston- 
ishing if,  with  this  advantage,  their  speculations  should 
not   invariably  be   successful.     In  possession   of  such 


MONARCHY.  195* 

means,  the  church  has  in  every  age  accumulated  pro- 
digious wealth.  Before  the  secularization  of  the  monas- 
tic property  in  Europe,  the  ecclesiastical  domains  and 
revenues  were  so  great  that  the  benefices  were  bestowed 
by  kings  on  royal  heirs.  In  California  and  Mexico, 
previous  to  the  revolution  that  caused  the  sequestra- 
tion of  the  church  domains,  her  mission-houses  owned 
nearly  all  the  territory  of  the  State.  In  China,  even  at 
this  day,  there  are  three  bishoprics  endowed  by  the 
crown  of  Portugal,  which  hold  seven  provinces  ;  and 
the  bishops  of  the  Apostolic  Vicars  hold  several  others. 
The  possessions  of  the  Catholic  priests  render  them  the 
wealthiest  citizens  of  the  country  in  which  they  reside ; 
and  as  no  heir  can  inherit  their  estates,  each  succeeding 
generation  is  destined  to  see  them  augmented  until 
every  bishopric,  however  poor  now,  has  become  a  princely 
domain,  with  a  princely  revenue,  governed  by  a  titled 
priest. 

Every  Catholic  edifice  in  the  world,  and  every  de- 
Bcription  of  property  held  by  a  priest,  belongs  to  the 
pope ;  the  real  title,  as  lord  paramount,  being  vested 
in  him,  whatever  ostensible  title  policy  or  necessity 
may  have  induced  the  church  to  adopt.  Over  these 
possessions  he  exercises  supreme,  despotic  dominion, 
sometimes  directly,  and  sometimes  indirectly. 

We  have  now  enumerated  some  of  the  sources  of  the 
pope's  revenue  ;  but  we  have  mentioned  but  a  few  of 
them.  In  fact  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  church  partake 
so  23lainly  of  a  financial  character,  that  they  seem  to 
have  been  instituted  for  purposes  of  ecclesiastical  rev- 
enue. "With  a  fiscal  system  principally  based  on  them, 
extending  over  Christendom,  rigorous  in  its  exactions 


196    '  THE   PAPAL; 

on  all  Classes,  the  cliurcli  unites  a  rapacity  so  unprin- 
cipled, measures  so  oppressive  and  unjustifiable,  deeds 
so  horrible  and  arrogations  so  presumptuous,  that  were 
it  not  for  her  religious  aspect  she  might  be  mistaken  for 
the  demon  of  avarice.  While  rolling  in  opulence  and 
luxury,  she  stoops  to  the  basest  trickery  to  filch  from 
laborers  and  servant  girls  their  wages;  to  disinherit 
lawful  heirs  ;  taking  advantage  of  ignorance  and  su- 
perstition, and  pretending  to  regulate  the  condition  of 
the  soul  in  the  eternal  world.  The  immense  sum  of 
gold  which  she  has,  by  means  of  her  fiscal  system,  been 
piling  up  in  her  coffers  for  ages,  has  had  no  visible  out- 
let except  what  has  been  expended  in  the  support  of 
her  officials,  and  on  bribery,  corruption,  and  political 
intrigue.  The  policy  that  dictates  the  accumulation 
and  reservation  of  this  vast  amount  of  treasure,  must 
contemplate  the  undertaking  of  some  gigantic  enter- 
prise ;  and  the  world  may  yet  be  startled  from  its 
slumber  by  the  martial  assertion  of  the  church  to  her 
pretensions  of  supreme  dominion  over  the  world ;  and 
by  the  fact  that  she  is  better  organized  for  war,  and 
better  furnished  with  its  sinews  than  any  other  power. 

As  an  independent  sovereign  the  pope  has  oaths  of 
allegiance  which  he  prescribes  to  such  of  his  subjects 
as  he  judges  proper.  According  to  the  authority  of 
"William  Hogan,  the  consecration  oath  of  the  Jesuistical 
bishops  is  as  follows  : 

"  Therefore,  to  the  utmost  of  my  power  I  shall  and 
*'  will  defend  this  doctrine,  and  his  holiness's  rights  and 
**  customs  against  all  usurpers,  and  heretical  and  Pro- 
"  testant  authority  whatsoever  ;  C3pecially  against  the 
"  new  pretended  authority  of  the  Church  of  England, 


MONAECHY,  197 

'  and  all  adherents,  in  regard  that  they  and  she  be 
'  usurpal  and  heretical,  opposing  the  true  mother  church 
'  of  Rome.     I  do  renounce  and  disown  my  allegiance 

*  as  due  to  any  heretical  king,  prince,  or  State  named 

*  Protestant,  or  of  obedience  to  any  of  their  inferior 
'  magistrates  or  officers.  I  do  further  declare  the  doc- 
'  trine  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  of  Calvinists, 
^  Huguenots,  and  of  the  other  named  Potestants  to  be 
'  damnable,  aiid  they  themselves  are  damned,  and  to  be 

"  damned,  that  will  not  forsake  them.  I  do  further  de- 
*clare  that  I  will  help,  assist,  advise  all  wherever  I 
'  shall  be,  in  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  or  in  any 
'  other  kingdom  I  shall  come  to,  and  do  my  best  to  ex- 
'  tirpate  the  heretical  Protestant  doctrines,  and  destroy 
'  all  their  pretending  powers,  regal  or  otherwise.  I 
'  do  further  promise  and  declare,  that  notwithstanding 
'  I  am  dispensed  with,  to  assume  any  other  religion 
'  heretical  for  the  propagation  of  the  mother  church's 

*  interest,  to  keep  secret  and  private  all  her  agent's 
'  councils  from  time  to  time,  as  they  entrust  me,  and 
'  not  to  divulge,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  word,  writ- 

*  ing,  or  circumstance  whatever,  but  to  execute  all 
'  that  shall  be  proposed,  given  in  charge,  or  discovered 
'  unto  me,  by  you  my  ghostly  father,  or  by  any  of  his 

*  sacred  convents.     All  which  I,  A.  B.  do  swear  by  the 

*  blessed  Trinity,  and  blessed  Sacraments  which  I  am 
'  now  to  receive,  to  perform,  and  on  my  part  to  keep 
'  inviolably,  and  do  call  all  the  heavenly  and  glorious 

*  hosts  to  witness  these  my  real  intentions  to  keep  this 
'  my  oath." 

The  consecration  oath  of  a  Catholic  bishop  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  on  the  Ploly  Evangelists,  and 
"  before  Almighty  God,  to  defend  the  domains  of  St. 
"  Peter  against  every  aggressor ;  to  preserve,  augment 
"  and  extend  the  rights,  honors,  and  privileges  of  the 
"  Lord  Pope  and  his  successors  ;  to  observe,  and  with  all 


198  THE   PAPAL 

"  my  miglit  to  enforce  his  decrees,  ordinances,  reserva- 
"tions,  provisions,  and  all  dispositions  whatsoever; 
"  to  persecute  and  combat,  to  the  last  extremity 
"heretics  and  schismatics,  and  all  who  will  not  pay 
"  the  sovereign  Pope  all  the  obedience  which  he  shall 
"require." 

The  remainder  of  this  oath  is  similar  to  the  foregoing 
Jesuistical  oath. 

The  priests  of  Maynooth,  who  form  the  vast  majority 
of  Catholic  priests  in  this  country,  assume  the  follow- 
ing obligation  to  the  church  : 

"  I,  A,  B.,  do  declare  not  to  act  or  conduct  any  mat- 
•'  ter  or  thing  prejudicial  to  her,  in  her  sacred  orders, 
•'  doctrines,  tenets,  or  commands,  without  leave  of  its 
"  supreme  power,  or  its  authority  under  her  appoint- 
"  ment ;  being  so  permitted,  then  to  act,  and  further 
"  her  interests,  more  than  my  own  earthly  good  and 
"  earthly  pleasures ;  as  she  and  her  head,  His  Holiness 
"  and  his  successors,  have,  or  ought  to  have,  the  su- 
"  premacy  over  all  kings,  princes,  estates,  or  powders 
"whatsoever,  either  to  deprive  them  of  their  crowns, 
"  or  governments,  or  to  set  up  others  in  lieu  thereof, 
"  they  dissenting  from  the  mother  chuich  and  her  com- 
"  mands." 

It  is  said  that  by  rescript  of  Pope  Pius  VII.,  in 
1818,  the  clause  relating  to  "  heretics"  in  the  bishop's 
oath,  is  omitted  by  the  bishops  subject  to  the  British 
crown.  It  is  also  omitted  in  the  following  oath,  pub- 
lished by  the  Nashville  American  U7iion,  April  6,  1856 : 

"I,  N.,  elect  of  the  church  N.,  shall  be  from  this 
"hour  henceforward  obedient  to  Blessed  Peter  the 
"  Apostle,  and  to  the  holy  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
"  to  the  most  blessed  father  Pope  N.,  and  to  his  succes- 
"  sors  canonically  chosen.  I  shall  assist  them  to  retain 
"  and  defend,  against  any  man  whatever,  the  Roman 


MONARCHY.  199 

"  Popedom,  without  prejudice  to  my  rank  ;  and  shall 
"  take  care  to  preserve,  defend  and  promote  the  rights, 
"  honors,  privileges,  and  authority  of  the  holy  Roman 
*'  Church,  of  the  Pope,  and  his  successors  aforesaid. 
"  With  my  whole  strength  I  shall  observe,  and  cause  to 
"  be  observed  by  others,  the  rules  of  the  Holy  Fathers, 
"  the  decrees,  ordinances,  or  dispositions  and  mandates 
•'  of  the  Apostolic  See," 

The  next  clause  declares  the  willingness  of  the 
bishop  to  attend  synods,  give  an  account  to  the  pope  of 
every  thing  appertaining  to  the  church  and  his  flock, 
and  obey  such  apostolic  mandate  as  he  shall  receive. 
The  oath  concludes  thus  : 

"  I  shall  not  sell,  nor  give  away,  nor  mortgage, 
"  enfeoff  anew,  nor  in  any  way  alienate  the  possessions 
"  belonging  to  my  table,  without  the  leave  of  the  Ro- 
"  man  Pontiff.  And  should  I  proceed  to  any  alienation 
"  of  them,  I  am  willing  to  contract,  by  the  very  fact, 
"  the  penalties  specified  in  the  constitutions  published 
"  on  this  subject." 

The  Sanfideste's  oath,  exacted  by  Pope  Gregory  of 
his  military  forces,  was  as  follows  : 

"  I  swear  to  elevate  the  altar  and  the  throne  upon  the 
"  infamous  Liberals,  and  to  exterminate  them  without 
"  pity  for  the  cries  of  their  children,  or  the  tears  of 
"their  old  men." 

Williain  Hogan,  speaking  of  the  instructions  given  him 
previous  to  his  embarkation  for  America,  by  his  bishop, 
describes  it  as  follows : 

"  Let  it  be  your  first  duty  to  extirpate  heretics,  but 
be  cautious  as  to  the  manner  of  doing  it.  Do  nothing 
without  consulting  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which 
you  may  be  located,   and  if  there  be  no  bishop  there, 


200  THE    PAPAL 

advise  with  the  metropolitan  bishop.  He  has  instruc- 
tions from  Rome,  and  he  understands  the  character  of 
the  people.  Be  sure  not  to  permit  the  members  of  the 
holy  church  who  may  be  under  your  charge  to  read  the 
Bible.  It  is  the  source  of  all  heresy.  Wherever  you 
see  an  opportunity  of  building  a  church,  make  it 
known  to  your  bishop.  Let  the  land  be  purchased  for 
the  Pope,  and  his  successors  in  office.  Kever  yield  or 
give  up  the  divine  right  which  the  head  of  the  church 
has,  by  virtue  of  the  keys,  to  the  command  of  North 
America,  as  well  as  every  other  country.  The  confes- 
sional v.'ill  enable  you  to  know  the  people  by  degrees ; 
with  the  aid  of  that  holy  tribunal,  and  the  bishops,  v/ho 
are  guided  by  the  spirit  of  God,  we  may  expect  at  no 
distant  day,  to  bring  over  North  America  to  our  holy 
church." — Synopsis,  pp.  110,  111. 

The  atrocious  doctrine  that  it  is  proper  to  equivocate, 
to  dissimulate,  and  to  deceive  by  mental  reservations, 
is  boldly  defended  by  the  highest  authorities  of  the 
Catholic  church.  Dens  says  :  "  Notwithstanding  it  is 
not  lawful  to  lie,  or  to  feign  what  is  not,  however,  it  is 
lawful  to  dissemble  what  is,  or  to  cover  the  truth  with 
words,  or  other  ambiguous  or  doubtful  signs,  for  a  just 
cause,  and  when  there  is  not  a  necessity  of  confessing." — 
(Theol.,  vol.  2,  p.  116).  Again,  he  says:  "  The  Vicar 
of  God,  in  the  place  of  God,  remits  to  man  the  debt  of 
a  plighted  promise." — {2b.,  4 :  134,  135).  St.  Liqnori 
says:  "  It  is  certain,  and  a  common  opinion  among  all 
divines,  that  for  a  just  cause  it  is  lawful  to  use  equivo- 
cation, and  to  confirm  it  with  an  oath." — (Less.  1,  2,  ch. 
41,  n.  47). 

The  obligation  of  all  oaths  of  allegiance  in  conflict 
with  the  papal  clerical  oaths,  or  the  interests  of  the 
pope,   are  declared  by  the  universal  authority  of  the 


MONARCHY.  201 

church  to  be  null  and  void.  Dens  says  :  "  All  the  faith- 
ful, also  bishops  and  patriarchs,  are  bound  to  obey  the 
Roman  pontiff.  The  pope  hath  also  not  only  directive, 
but  coactive  power  over  the  faithful." — (Do  Eccles.  No.. 
94,  p.  439).  Pope  Urban,  elected  in  1087,  says  :  "  Sub- 
jects are  not  bound  to  observe  the  fealty  which  they 
swear  to  a  Christian  prince,  who  withstands  God  and 
the  saints,  and  condemns  the  precepts." — (Pithon,  p. 
260).  Pope  Gregory  IX  says :  "  The  fealty  which 
subjects  have  sworn  to  a  Christian  king,  who  opposes 
God  and  his  saints,  they  are  not  bound  by  any  author- 
ity to  perform." — Decret.,  vol.  1,  p.  648).  Again  he 
says :  "  An  oath  contrary  to  the  utility  of  the  church 
is  not  to  be  observed." — Vol.  2,  p.  358.)  And  again  he 
asserts :  "  You  are  not  bound  by  an  oath  of  this 
kind,  but  on  the  contrary  you  are  freely  bid  Good-speed 
in  standing  against  kings  for  the  rights  and  honors  of 
that  very  church,  and  even  in  legislatively  defending 
your  own  peculiar  privileges." — Vol.  2..  p.  360).  Bron- 
son,  speaking  of  the  church  says :  "  As  the  guardian  and 
judge  of  law  she  must  have  power  to  take  cognizance  of 
the  State,  and  to  judge  whether  or  not  it  does  conform 
to  the  condition  and  requirement  of  its  trust,  and  to 
pronounce  sentence  accordingly." — (Rev.  Jan.  1854). 
Pope  Pius  v.,  in  relation  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  said : 
"  We  do  declare  her  to  be  deprived  of  her  pretended 
right  to  the  kingdom,  and  of  all  dominion  whatsoever ; 
and  also  the  subjects  sworn  to  her  to  be  forever  dis- 
solved from  any  such  oath,"  Pope  Innocent  III., 
electedin  1198,  "Freed  all  that  were  bound  to  those  who 
had  fallen  into  heresy,  from  all  fealty,  homage,  and  obe- 
dience."—  (Pithon,  p.  241J).  Bronson  says:  "Rome 
17 


202  THE  PAPAL 

divided  her  British  territory  into  dioceses,  and  sends 
cardinals  to  London,  notwithstanding  the  laws  that 
England  shall  not  thus  be  divided." — Bev.,  April, 
1854).  The  trustees  of  the  church  of  St.  Louis,  at 
Buifalo,  N.  Y.,  having  refused  to  comply  with  the 
canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent  in  violating  the  trust 
laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  the  bishop  proceeded 
to  excommunicate  them.  In  consequence  of  this  con- 
duct, the  legislature  of  1855  passed  an  act  defining 
ecclesiastical  tenure.  In  a  letter  of  Bishop  Hughes, 
dated  March  28th,  1855,  and  published  in  the  Free- 
man s  Journal,  respecting  this  law,  he  says  :  "  Now  in 
this  it  seems  to  meddle  with  our  religion,  as  well  as  our 
civil  rights ;  and  we  shall  find  twenty  ways  outside  the 
intricate  web  of  its  prohibitions  for  doing,  and  doing 
more  largely  still,  the  very  thing  it  wishes  us  not  to 
do." 

A  curious  and  very  objectionable  feature  of  the 
papal  monarchy  is,  a  system  of  searching  espionage 
which  it  attempts  to  establish  over  society.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  confessors  and  spiritual  guides  by  which  the 
pope  seeks  to  discover  the  thoughts,  and  direct  the  con- 
duct of  his  Catholic  subjects,  he  employs  a  set  of  men 
and  women  who,  in  the  capacity  of  servants  scrutinize 
the  domestic  affairs  of  non-Catholics,  mark  their  con- 
versation, and  communicate  all  important  facts  through 
their  superior,  to  him  at  Rome.  As  an  illustration  of 
the  disrespectful  inquisitiveness,  and  base  incivility  of 
this  department  of  the  papal  government,  we  submit 
the  following  facts  furnished  by  William  Hogan  : 

"  Soon  after  my  arrival  in  Philadelphia,"  says  he,  "  I 
became  acqainted  with  a  Protestant  family.     I  had  the 


MONARCHY.  203 

pleasure  of  dining  occasionally  with  them,  and  could 
not  help  noticing  a  seemingly  delicate  young  man,  who 
waited  at  the  table Not  long  after  this  a  mes- 
senger called  at  my  room  to  say  that  Theodore  was 
taken  ill,  and  wished  to  see  me.  I  was  then  officiating 
a?  a  Romish  priest,  and  calling  to  see  him  was  shown 
up  stairs  to  a  garret  room,  into  which,  after  a  loud  rap, 

and  announcement  of  my  name,  I  was  admitted 

He  deliberately  turned  out  of  his  bed,  locked  the  door, 
and  very  respectfully  handed  me  a  chair,  and  asked  me 
to  sit  down  as  he  had  something  very  important  to  tell 

me '  Sir,  you  have  taken  me  for  a  young  man, 

but  you  are  mistaken  ;  I  am  a  girl,  but  not  so  young  as 
I  appeared  in  my  boy's  dress.  I  sent  for  you  because  I 
want  to  get  a  character,  and  confess  to  you  before  I 
leave  the  city.'  I  answered,  '  You  must  explain  your- 
self more  fully  before  you  can  do  either.'  I  moved  my 
chair  farther  from  the  bed,  and  tightened  my  grasp  on 
a  sword-cane  which  I  carried  in  my  hand.  '  Feel  no 
alarm,'  said  the  now  young  woman,  'I  am  armed  as 
well  as  you  are,'  taking  from  under  her  jacket  an  ele- 
gant poignard.  '  I  will  not  hurt  you.  I  am  a  lay  sis- 
ter belonging  to  the  order  of  Jesuists  in  Stonyhurst, 
England,  and  wear  this  dagger  to  protect  myself. 
There  was  no  longer  any  mystery  in  the  matter.  I 
knew  now  where  I  was,  and  the  character  of  the  being 
that  stood  before  me.  I  discovered  from  her  that  she 
had  arrived  in  New  Orleans  some  time  previous,  with 
all  due  recommendation  to  the  priests  and  nuns  of  that 

city They  received  her  with  all  due  caution 

as  far  as  could  be  seen  by  the  public  ;  but  privately  in 
the  warmest  manner.  Jesuists  are  active  and  diligent 
in  the  discharge  of  duties  to  their  superiors.,  and  of 
course  this  lay  sister,  who  was  chosen  from  among  many 
for  her  zeal  and  craft,  lost  no  time  in  entering  on  her 
mission.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  took  immediate  charge 
of  her,  recommended  her  as  a  chambermaid  to  one  of 
the  most  respectable  Protestant  families  in  that  city, 
and  having  clothed  her  in  an  appropriate  dress,  she  en- 


204  THE   PAPAL 

tered  on  lier  employment So  great  a 

favorite  did  she  become  in  the  family,  that  in  a  short 
time  she  became  acquainted  with  all  the  circumstances 
and  secrets,  from  those  of  the  father  to  those  of  the 
smallest  child, 

"  According  to  the  custom  universally  ija  vogue,  she 
kept  notes  of  every  circumstance  which  Mfay  tend  to 
elucidate  the  character  of  the  family,  never  carrying 
them  about  her,  but  depositing  them  with  the  mother 

abbess  especially  deputed  to  take  charge  of  them 

Thus  did  this  lay  sister  continue  to  go  from  place  to 
place,  from  family  to  family,  until  she  became  better 
acquainted  with  the  politics,  the  pecuniary  means,  re- 
ligious opinions,  and  whether  favorable  or  not  to  the 
propagation   of  popery  in  this  country,  than   even  the 

very  individuls  with  whom  she  associated This 

lay  sistr,  this  excellent  chambermaid,  or  lay  Jesuist  sis- 
ter, wished  to  come  North  to  a  better  climate 

Americans  can  be  gulled.  The  /Sisters  of  Charity  have  al- 
ways in  readiness  some  friend  to  supply  them  with  the 
means  of  performing  corporeal  acts  of  mercy.  This 
friend  went  around  to  the  American  families  where  this 
chambermaid  had  lived  from  time  to  time,  told  them 
she  wanted  to  come  as  far  as  Baltimore,  that  it  was  a 
pity  to  have  her  travel  as  a  steerage  passenger  ;  a  per- 
son of  her  virtue  and  correct  deportment  should  not  be 
placed  in  a  situation  where  she  might  be  liable  to  insult 

and  rude  treatment A   handsome   purse   was 

soon  made  up,  a  cabin  passage  was  engaged,  and  the 
young  ladies  on  whom  she  waited  made  her  presents  of 
every  article  of  dress  necessary  for  her  comfort  and 
convenience.  She  was  the  depository  of  all  their  love 
stories ;  she  knew  the  names  of  their  lovers,  .  .  .  and 
if  there  were  secrets  among  them  they  were  known  to 
her  ;  and,  having  made  herself  acquainted  with  the 
secrets  of  New  Orleans,  she  arrived  in  Baltimore.  .  .  . 
She  took  possession  of  a  place  as  soon  as  convenient, 
and  spent  several  months  in  that  city.  .  .  .  Having 
now  become  acquainted  with  the  secret  circumstances  of 


MONARCHY.-  205^ 

almost  every  Protestant  family  of  note  in  Baltimore,, 
and  made  her  report  to  the  mother  abbess  of  the  nun- 
nery of  her  order  in  that  city,  she  returned  to  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  and  after  advising  with  the  mother  ab- 
bess of  the  convent,  she  determined  to  change  her  ap- 
parent charal|ter  and  apparel. 

"  By  advice  of  this  venerable  lady  and  holy  prioress, 
on  whom  many  of  the  wives  of  our  national  represent- 
atives, and  even  grave  senators,  looked  as  an  example 
of  piety  and  chastity,  she  cut  her  hair,  dressed  her  in  a 
smart  looking  waiter's  jacket  and  trowsers,  and  with  the 
best  recommendations  for  intelligence  and  capacity,  ap- 
plied for  a  situation  as  Waiter  in  Gadsby's  Hotel,  in 
Washington  city.     This  smart  and  tidy  looking  young 

man  got   instant   employment Those  senators 

on  whom  he  waited,  not  suspecting  that  he  had  the  or- 
dinary curiosity  of  servants  in  general,  were  entirely 
thrown  off  their  guard,  and  in  their  conversations  with 
one  another  seemed  to  forget  their  usual  caution.  Such, 
in'  short,  was  their  confidence  in  him,  that  their  most 
important  papers  and  letters  were  left  loose  upon  the 
table,  satisfied  by  saying,  as  they' went  out :  '  Theodore, 
take  care  of  my  room  and  papers.'  ....  Now  it  was 
known  v/hether  Henry  Clay  was  a  gambler ;  whether 
Daniel  Webster  was  a  libertine ;  whether  John  C.  Cal- 
houn was  an  honest  but  credulous  man In  fact 

this  lay  sister  in  male  uniform,  but  a  waiter  in  Gadsby's 
Hotel,  was  enabled  to  give  more  correct  information  of 
the  actual  state  of  things  in  this  country,  through  the 
general  of  the  Jesuist  order  in  Rome,  than  the  whole 
corpse  of  diplomats  from  foreign  countries  then  residing 

at  our  seat  of  government *  I  want  a  written 

character  from  you.  You  must  state  in  it  that  I  have 
complied  with  my  duty,  and  as  it  is  necessary  that  I 
should  w^ear  a  cap  for  a  while,  you  must  say  that  you 
visited  me  in  my  sick  room,  that  I  confessed  to  you,  re- 
ceived the  viaticum,  and  had  just  recovered  from  a  vio- 
lent fever.  My  business  is  not  done  yet.  I  must  go 
to  New  York,  where  the  Sisters  of  Charity  will  find  a 
17* 


206  THE   PAPAL 

place  for  me  as  a  waiting  maid." — Auricular   Confes- 
sion, volume  2  :  pp.  99-108. 

Through  the  instrumentality  of  this  execrable  sys- 
tem of  espionage,  the  pope  becomes  acquainted  with 
the  character,  intentions,  and  acts  of  every  important 
private  and  public  personage  ;  with  the  nature  and  ob- 
ject of  every  secret  society;  with  the  private  inten- 
tions of  every  government ;  with  the  incipiency  and 
progress  of  every  seditious  and  treasonable  project ;  and 
is  prepared  at  all  times,  by  the  accuracy  and  compre- 
hensiveness of  his  information,  to  instruct  his  generals 
in  the  actual  state  of  affairs  existing  in  any  part  of  the 
w^orld,  and  to  direct  their  conduct  in  the  advancement 
of  his  interest,  by  the  most  prudent  and  enlightened 
council. 


MONARCHY.  207 


THE  PAPAL  MONARCHY, 

0 

SECTION     TWO. 

The  Popes  Direct  Authority — His  Opposition  to  Mar^ 
riage —  To  Slavery — His  Claim  to  Temporal  Power  on 
the  forged  Decretal  Letter  of  Constantine — On  the  Fie- 

■  titious  Gift  of  Pepin — On  the  Pretended  Donation  of 
Charlemagne — on  the  Disputed  Bequest  of  Matilda^ 
Duchess  of  Tuscany — The  Title  of  Pope  a  Usurpa- 
tion—  The  Papal  Artful  Policy — The  State  of  Ltaly 
under  the  Papal  Government. 

We  have  now  sketched  the  pope's  temporal  mon- 
archy, which  has  its  seat  in  Rome,  and  its  subjects  in 
every  part  of  the  world.  He  claims  to  be  invested  by 
divine  right  with  supreme  sovereignty  over  earth,  hea- 
ven and  hell.  To  question  the  legitimacy  of  this  claim 
is  condemned,  and  has  been  punished  as  blasphemous 
by  his  authority.  Joseph  Wolf,  of  Halle,  a  Jew  who 
had  been  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith,  was,  while 
studying  divinity  at  the  Seminarium  Romanum,  impris- 
oned for  blasphemy  for  having  expressed  a  doubt  of  the 
pope's  infallibility.  Fra  Paola,  who  had  expressed  in  a 
private  letter  that  so  far  from  coveting  the  dignities  of 
Rome  he  held  them  in  abomination,  and  who  had  advo- 
cated liberty  in  a  dispute  which  had  occurred  between 
the  pope  and  the  Venitian  government,  was  summoned 
to  Rome  to  answer  for  his  criminal  assertions  and  con- 


208 


THE  PAPAL 


duct ;  and  though  acquitted  of  the  allegations  preferred 
against  him,  narrowly  escaped  the  assassin's  dagger. 

But  the  "  More  than  God,"  the  Pope,  is  a  very  jeal- 
ous "more  than  God."  He  allows  no  master  to  stand 
between  him  and  his  subjects.  His  authority  over  mind 
and  body  must  be  direct,  and  all  influences  or  institu- 
tions that  obstruct  it  must  be  annihilated.  Hence  Car- 
dinal Ballarmine,  the  distinguished  papal  controvesial- 
ist,  who  was  so  devout  a  Catholic  that  w^hen  he  died  he 
bequeathed  one  half  of  his  soul  to  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
other  half  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  provoked  the  censure  of 
the  holy  father  by  asserting  in  a  publication  that  the 
pope's  influence  in  temporal  matters  was  not  direct  but 
indirect.  As  husbands  obstruct  the  direct  influence  of 
popes  on  wives,  parents  on  children,  and  friends  on 
friends,  he  would  nullify  the  conjugal,  parental,  filial 
and  social  relations.  Hence  in  a  canon  of  the  Council 
of  Trent,  he  pronounces  a  curse  on  all  who  say  that 
marriage  is  preferable  to  celibacy.  Should  the  prompt- 
ing of  the  social  instincts  be  too  strong  to  be  repressed 
by  the  terrors  of  canonical  anathemas,  and  should  they 
in  natural  indiff'erence  to  them  still  create  the  bonds, 
connections,  and  institutions  of  friendship  and  families, 
he  has  a  clerical  machinery  skilfully  adapted  to  moder- 
ate their  influences  and  reciprocities,  and  to  maintain 
the  predominence  of  his  direct  authority.  Michelet, 
the  philosophical  historian  and  celebrated  controversial- 
ist, in  a  work  entitled  "  Priests,  Women  and  Children," 
has  explained  the  ingenious  method  by  which  this  ob- 
ject is  efl'ected.  By  separating  as  much  as  possible  the 
husband  from  the  wife,  and  the  children  from  their  pa- 
rents, the  direct  papal  influence,  through  the  priest,  is 


MONARCHY.  '209 

exerted  on  the  isolated  husband  abroad,  on  the  lonely 
wife  at  home,  and  the  defenceless  children  in  nunnery 
schools  and  Catholic  asylums.  Examples  of  a  similar 
policy  are  portrayed  by  Eugene  Sue,  a  Catholic,  in  his 
"  Wandering  Jew."  The  logical  consequence  of  the 
dogma  of  the  pope's  direct  authority  has,  in  fact,  made 
the  Catholic  church  a  "  free  love"  institution.  Chas- 
tity and  marriage  she  tolerates  because  she  cannot  do 
otherwise ;  but  in  the  lives  of  her  monks,  her  priests, 
her  popes,  and  her  saints,  she  as  practically  ignores  as 
she  consistently  hates  them. 

The  jealous  claim  of  the  pope  to  a  direct  influence  on 
the  mind  of  his  subjects,  has  unavoidably  made  the 
church  an  inveterate  enemy  of  human  slavery.  The 
pope  hates  slavery,  not  because  he  wishes  men  free, 
but  because  he  wishes  to  exercise  a  direct  authority 
over  their  minds.  The  master  nullifies  the  pope's  influ- 
ence on  the  slave,  and  therefore  he  wishes  him  removed. 
No  influence  is  equal  to  that  of  a  master.  The  whip 
he  holds  over  the  back  of  his  slave,  and  the  power  he 
has  over  his  life,  annihilates  all  other  influences.  Hence 
the  Catholic  church  has  always  been  opposed  to  slavery. 
Guizot  remarks,  respecting  feudal  slavery  :  "It  cannot 
be  denied,  however,  that  the  church  has  used  its  influ- 
ence to  restrain  it ;  the  clergy  in  general,  and  especially 
several  popes,  enforced  the  manumission  of  slaves  as  a 
duty  incumbent  on  laymen,  and  loudly  enveighed 
against  keeping  Christians  in  bondage." — (Gen.  Hist., 
Lect.  VI.,  p.  132).  Pope  Pius  II.,  in  1462,  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  bishops  of  Kubi ;  Pope  Paul  HI.,  in 
1537,  in  his  apostolic  letter  to  the  cardinal  bishops  of 
Toledo  ;  Pope  Urban  VII.,  in  1590,  in  an  apostolic  letter 
18* 


210  THE   PAPAL 

to  the  Collector  Jurium  of  the  apostolic  churches  of  Por- 
tugal;  Pope  Benedict  XIV.,  in  1731,  in  his  apostolic 
letter  to  the  clergy  of  Brazil ;  and  Pope  Pius  VII.,  in 
his  official  address  to  his  clergy,  all  denounced  the 
traffic  in  blacks,  and  demanded  that  every  species  of 
slavery  should  cease  among  Christians.  Pope  Gregory, 
in  his  apostolic  letter  of  1839  says:  "We,  then,  by 
virtue  of  our  apostolic  authority,  censure  all  the  afore- 
said practices  as  unworthy  the  Christian  name,  and  by 
that  same  authority  we  strictly  prohibit  and  interdict 
any  ecclesiastic  or  layman  from  presuming  to  uphold, 
under  any  pretext  or  color  whatever,  that  same  traffic 
in  blacks,  as  if  it  were  lawful  in  its  nature,  or  other- 
wise to  preach,  or  in  any  w^ay  whatever  publicly  or 
privately  to  teach  in  opposition  to  these  things  which 
we  have  made  the  subject  of  our  admonition  in  this  our 
apostolic  letter."  "We  are  aw^are  that  African  slavery 
owes  its  origin  to  a  Catholic  priest,  who,  perceiving  that 
the  demand  for  laborers  in  the  West  India  was  likely 
to  subject  the  Indians  to  bondage,  suggested  as  a  less 
wrong  that  negroes  should  be  purchased  of  the  Portu- 
guese settlements  in  Africa,  and  held  as  slaves  for  life  ; 
but  whatever  w^ere  his  private  opinions  respecting  the 
propriety  of  African  slavery,  his  church  has  never  re- 
cognized it  as  legal. 

The  perversion  of  public  opinion  by  the  Catholic 
church,  and  the  practical  beguilement  of  her  warmest 
friends,  effected  by  the  consummate  craft  with  which 
she  plots  to  achieve  her  objects,  have  presented  fresh 
evidence  to  the  world  in  the  singular  fact,  that  while 
she  is  radically  the  most  efficient  abolition  society  that 
ever  was  projected,  and  that  while  in  her  official  man- 


MONARCHY,  211 

dates  to  ilie  clergy  she  has  invariably  denounced  the 
traffic  ill  human  beings  as  infamous,  yet  has  she  com- 
manded the  homage  of  the  American  slave-holder  for 
her  friendly  disposition  towards  the  Southern  institu- 
tion ;  and  induced  her  members,  while  using  them  as 
instruments  in  the  accomplishment  of  her  projects  for 
the  abolishment  of  slavery,  to  hate,  denounce,  and  to 
anathematize  the  North  for  its  abolition  proclivities. 

But  there  were  other  considerations  which  probably 
stimulated  the  humanity  of  the  church  in  her  labors  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  The  condition  of  the  slave 
precludes  the  possibility  of  his  serving  her  in  the  capa- 
city of  a  spy  on  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  his  master; 
and  as  he  received  no  wages  she  could  not  assess  him 
for  her  benefit.  The  perfection  of  the  pope's  system  of 
espionage,  and  the  augmentation  of  his  revenue,  were 
both  connected  with  the  slave's  disenthralment.  These 
advantages  could  not  be  undesirable  to  the  church,  and 
the  avidity  with  which  she  has  improved  them,  shows 
how  clearly  she  foresaw  them.  Through  accident  or 
Jesuistical  craft,  it  has  happened,  that  colored  servants 
have  been  supplanted  to  an  incredible  extent  by  white 
Catholic  servants,  who  as  serviceable  spies  far  excel 
them,  I  regret  not  the  abolishment  of  the  revolting 
traffic  in  human  beings,  nor  do  I  censure  the  Catholic 
church  for  the  important  aid  she  rendered  in  its  achieve- 
ment ;  but  I  hope  American  freemen  will  not  want  the 
vigilance  to  prevent  her  from  improving  the  new  con- 
dition of  things,  so  much  to  her  advantage  as  to  endan- 
ger the  liberty  of  the  country. 

But  the  "  Lord  God,  the  Pope,"  who  claims  by  divine 
right  to  be  lord  paramount  of  the  world,  has  unwarily 


212  THE  PAPAL 

invalidated  his  title  even  to  the  "  patrimony  of  St.  Pe- 
ter," by  an  attempt  to  establish  it  by  forged  decretal 
letters.  Forgeries  are  criminal  acts,  and  punished  by 
all  nations  as  high  misdemeanors.  They  are  prejudi- 
cial to  the  ground  of  action  of  a  claimant,  and  as  evi- 
dent proof  of  an  intent  to  swindle,  as  they  are  of  a 
base  and  contemptible  origin.  When  successful,  they 
may  overhang  the  mind  for  a  while,  as  clouds  in  a  dead 
still  atmosphere  do  the  earth;  but  at  the  slightest 
breeze  they  are  dissipated,  and  the  superstructure  based 
upon  them,  though  gorgeous  as  the  setting  sun,  will, 
like  its  area!  enchantment,  break  up  and  dissolve  away. 
Yet  of  such  base  and  flimsy  material  are  the  pope's 
claim  to  temporal  power  constructed.  Innumerable 
bulls,  decretals,  receipts,  briefs,  canons,  letters,  inter- 
dicts, and  other  documents,  have  been  forged,  altered 
and  interpolated  by  the  holy  brotherhood,  to  furnish  a 
legal  basis  for  the  pope's  temporal  power.  These  docu- 
ments were  prepared  between  the  third  and  ninth  cen- 
turies, and  carefully  treasured  up  in  the  papal  archives, 
ready  for  use  as  occasion  might  require.  One  of  the 
boldest  of  these  pious  forgeries  is  the  decretal  letter  at- 
tributed to  Constantino  the  Great,  forged  probably  by 
Benedict  of  Mentz,  in  the  ninth  century.  It  reads  as 
follows : 

"We  attribute  to  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  all  imperial 
dignity,  and  power  and  glory.  We  give  to  Pope  Syl- 
vester, and  to  his  successors,  our  palace  of  Lateran,  one 
of  the  finest  in  the  world  ;  we  give  to  him  our  crown, 
our  mitre,  our  diadem,  all  our  imperial  vestments.  We 
give  to  the  Holy  Pontiff  as  a  free  gift  the  city  of  Rome, 
and  all  the  cities  of  Western  Italy,  as  well  as  all  the 
cities  of  other  countries.     To  make  room  for  him  we 


MONARCHY.  213 

abdicate  our  authority  over  these  provinces,  transferr- 
ing the  seat  of  our  empire  to  Byzantium,  since  it  is  not 
just  that  a  temporal  emperor  shall  retain  any  power 
where  God  has  set  the  head  of  his  church." 

The  reason  assigned  for  the  bestowal  of  this  magnifi- 
cent donation  was  gratitude  on  the  part  of  Constantine, 
for  having  been  cured  of  leprosy  through  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  rite  of  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Pope 
Sylvester.     But  it  is  historically  established  that  Con- 
stantine   did   not   receive   the  rite   of  baptism  until  a 
late  hour  in  his  last  sickness ;  that  when  he  did  receive 
it,  it  did  not  cure  his  malady  ;  and  that  the  rite  was  ad- 
ministered, not  by  the  Pope  of  Rome,  but  by  an  Arian 
bishop.     Whatever  donations  of  crowns,  kingdoms  and 
cities  were  bestowed  on  the  bishop  who  officiated  on  the 
occasion,  were  unquestionably  granted   to    a    heretical 
sectary ;  and  if  Home  does  not  wish  to  confess  herself 
an   Arian,   she   cannot    consistently    claim   their   gifts. 
But  even  had  the  case  been  otherwise,  how  could  Con- 
stantine  bestow  on  the  pope  all  the  cities  of  Western 
Italy,  and  of  all  other  countries,  when  he  did  not  pos- 
sess them  himself  ?     As  the  gift  of  a  donor  is  worthless 
unless  he  has  an  actual  right  in  what  he  bestows,  the 
pretensions  of  the  pope  on  the  ground  of  Constantine's 
gift,  are  an  actual  nullification  of  all  his  claims  to  tem- 
poral sovereignty.     It  is  generally  conceded  that  Con- 
stantine allowed  the  pope  the  use  of  some  buildings  in 
Rome  ;  but  it  is  denied  that  he  ever  invested  him  with 
a  title  to  them  as  lord  paramount.     This  limited  indul- 
gence was  the  pope's  precedent  for  holding  real  estate, 
and  formed  the  basis  of  his  claim  to  all  the  crowns  and 
kingdoms  of  the  world.     But  like  the  rapacious  dog, 


214  THE   PAPAL 

who,  with  his  mouth  full  of  meat,  lost  all  he  had  by 
snapping  at  the  shadow  of  more  in  a  river,  the  pope, 
by  attempting  through  forged  documents  to  grasp  at  all 
the  world,  has  lost  his  title  to  any  part  of  it. 

Although  the  decretal  letter  attributed  to  Constan- 
tine  was  palpably  spurious,  yet  such  was  the  general 
ignorance  of  the  times,  the  respect  for  the  sanctity  and 
infallibility  of  the  pope,  and  the  danger  of  provoking 
the  wrath  of  the  inquisition  by  questioning  a  dogma  of 
the  church,  that  its  validity  was  not  called  into  ques- 
tion. At  length,  however,  in  a  legal  proceedings  of  a 
monastery  at  Sabine,  its  fraudulent  character  was  at- 
tempted to  be  substantiated.  The  bold  criticisms  of 
Laurentius  Valla,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  gave  the 
first  decisive  blow  to  its  credibility,  and  in  the  succeed- 
ing age  it  sunk  into  public  contempt,  beneath  the  scorn 
of  historians,  the  ridicule  of  poets,  and  the  concessions 
of  theologians.  But  notwithstanding  its  universally 
acknowledged  spurious  character,  such  is  the  reluctance 
of  the  popes  to  yield  a  point,  that  it  still  continues  to 
remain  a  portion  of  the  canon  law  of  the  holy  Catholic 
church. 

The  alleged  gift  of  Pepin  to  the  Roman  See  forms 
another  pretext  by  which  the  popes  have  endeavored 
to  lay  a  basis  for  their  claim  to  the  right  of  temporal 
sovereignty.  Pope  Gregory  excited  a  rebellion  against 
the  authority  of  the  Emperor  Leo  III.,  in  the  course  of 
which  the  Italian  Exarcato  was  dismembered  from  the 
empire.  It  was  decided  by  the  victors  that  the  gov- 
ernment should  be  administered  by  two  Consuls,  in 
which  the  pope  should  participate,  not  in  a  secular,  but 
in  a  paternal  capacity.     For  a  monarch  claiming  the 


MONARCHY.  215 

■world  as  a  just  inLeritance,  and  all  princes  and  govern- 
ors as  his  menials,  to  accept  such  a  humble  concession 
to  his  unlimited  authority,  and  such  an  ambiguous 
office,  is  .the  most  remarkable  instance  on  record  of  a 
monarchial  condescension.  He,  however,  not  only  ac- 
cepted it,  but  what  is  still  more  surprising,  accepted  it 
with  eagerness  and  gratitude ;  and  even  intrigued  to 
obtain  it.  But  during  the  administration  of  Pope 
Stephen  II.  the  victorious  sword  of  the  Lombards 
wrung  the  Exercate  from  the  Consular  government  of 
Rome.  The  pope,  to  retrieve  his  fortunes  applied  to 
Pepin,  Mayor  of  France,  who,  responding  with  an 
adequate  force,  reconquered  the  Exercate,  and  expelled 
the  barbarians.  Grateful  for  the  martial  services  of 
Pepin,  the  pope  solicited  of  the  civil  authority  the  pri- 
vilege of  appointing  him  Patriarch  of  Rome,  a  title 
which  was  borne  by  the  former  Exarchs ;  and  by  this 
innocent  method  initiated  a  precedent  which  soon 
ripened  into  a  prerogative  of  appointing  civil  magis- 
trates. Having  thus  advanced  the  interests  of  the 
Holy  See  by  complimenting  its  deliverer,  he  next  ven- 
tured to  anoint  his  head  with  oil,  in  hopes  that  in  thus 
imitating  the  example  of  Samuel  in  anointing  kings, 
future  popes  might  have  a  pretext  for  usurping  his  pre- 
rogatives in  acknowledging  their  right  to  reign.  Pepin, 
who  ruled  france  under  the  title  of  Mayor,  wished  to 
imprison  the  heir  to  the  throne  and  usurp  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  pope  gave  him  his  opinion  that  it  was 
best  for  him  to  do  so.  In  grateful  consideration  of 
these  extraordinary  favors,  it  is  alleged  by  the  popes 
that  Pepin  bestowed  the  conquered  domains,  consisting 
of  the  Exercate  and  the  Pentopoiis  (five  cities)  on  the 


216  THE   PAPAL 

See  of  Rome,  as  supreme  absolute  lord.  It  is,  never- 
tlieless,  certain,  that  Pepin's  donations  to  the  Holy  See 
were  on  condition  of  its  vassalage  to  the  Frankish  power, 
and  that  during  his  life  he  exercised  absolute  sovereignty 
over  Rome,  and  over  all  his  conquests,  and  allowed  no 
pope  to  be  either  elected  or  consecrated  without  his 
permission. 

The  right  of  the  monarch  of  the  world  to  temporal 
power,  which  was  first  founded  upon  the  usurpation  of 
Constantine,  and  next  upon  the  conquests  of  Pepin, 
was  annihilated  by  the  conquests  of  the  Lombards. 
Desiderious,  their  king,  wrested  the  Exercate  from 
Rome;  and  wishing  to  subjugate  Charlemagne  under 
his  authority,  proposed  to  Pope  Adrian  I.  that  he  should 
excite  the  subjects  of  that  prince  to  rebellion,  de- 
clare him  a  usurper,  and  crown  his  nephews  in  his 
place.  Adrian  listened  to  these  overtures  with  seeming 
friendship,  but  with  malignant  delight,  and  secretly 
communicating  their  substance  to  Charlemagne,  the 
sword  of  the  latter  was  immediately  drawn  in  behalf  of 
the  church ;  the  pope  revenged ;  Desiderius  imprisoned 
for  life  in  a  monastery  ;  and  all  Italy,  except  the  Duchy 
of  Benevento  and  the  lower  Italian  republics,  were  re- 
conquered. Upon  this  signal  success  of  his  arms,  it  is 
alleged  by  the  popes  that  the  blood-stained  warrior, 
to  purchase  masses  for  the  benefit  of  his  soul,  confirmed 
the  Holy  See  in  the  absolute  possession  of  the  former 
grants  of  Pepin.  The  only  copy  ever  known  of  these 
pretended  donations  is  one  received  by  Cancio,  the 
pope's  chamberlain,  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  unde- 
niable historical  fact  that  Charlemagne  asserted,  and 
maintained  during  his  whole  life,  a  jealous  and  inalian- 


MONARCHY.  217 

able  right  to  Rome,  and  to  every  otlier  portion  of  his 
dominions,  casts  a  dark  shade    of  suspicion  upon  the 
genuineness  of  these  documents.     Even  were  they  au- 
thenticated, yet  as  the  right  of  a  monarch  to  annul  is 
equal  to  his  right  to  grant,  and  as  his  practice  is  the 
evidence  of  what  he  surrenders  or  annuls,  the  exclu- 
sive sovereignty  which  Charlemagne   maintained  over 
his  Italian  conquests,  until  the  day  of  his   death,  is  a 
complete  nullification  of  any  grant  that  he  had  made 
to  the  pope,  and  positive  proof  that  any  right  or  title 
to  Kome,  or  to  temporal  power,  constructed  upon  them 
by  the  holy  fathers,  is  as  invalid,  futile  and  ludicrous, 
as  if  they  were  based  on  a  grant  from  the  man  in  the 
moon ;  in  whose  place  of  abode  a  traveller,  according 
to  Ariosto,  once  found  some  of  the  lost  documents  upon 
which  the  popes  base  their  claim  to  temporal  dominion. 
Besides  these  laborious  but  ineffectual  efTorts  to  fab- 
ricate historical  data  in  support  of  the  papal  pretension 
to  temporal  sovereignty,  Gregory  VII.,  in  1075  asserted 
that  Matilda,   Duchess  of  Tuscany,  had  bequeathed  to 
the  church  her  domains.     These  possessions  consisted  of 
Tuscany,  a  part  of  Umbria,   a  part  of  Mark  Ancona, 
and  the  Duchies  of  Spoleto  and  Verona.     The  validity 
of  these  bequests  was  disputed   by  the  natural  heirs; 
the  contest  lasted  three  hundred  years,  during  which 
Italy  was  distracted,  and  Germany  depopulated.    Fred- 
eric I.,  in  vindication  of  his  claims  against  the  preten- 
sions of  the  pope,  invaded  Italy  on  three  different  occa- 
sions.    Henry  IV-  emperor  of  Germany,  thrice  crossed 
the  Alps  to  chastise  the  popes  for  aggressions  on  the 
Germanic  possessions  in   Italy.     During  the  first  cam- 
paign pope  Paschal  was  made  a  prisoner :  but  on  the  ap- 
19 


218  THE   PAPAL 

proacli  of  the  imperial  army  a  second  time  he  fled  from 
Rome.  Yet  amid  the  disputes  of  the  Germanic  succes- 
sion, and  during  the  minority  of  Frederic  II.,  the  arms 
and  intrigues  of  the  pope  won  the  concession  of  Europe 
to  his  claim  of  Matilda's  estates. 

The  spurious  character  of  the  pope's  title  to  temporal 
power  has  "been  exposed  by  the  ablest  Catholic  authors, 
and  rejected  with  impatient  contempt  by  history.  But 
the  arguments  which  have  converted  a  world,  have 
never  been  able  to  convert  the  popes.  They  still  main- 
tain that  the  reputed  donations  of  Constantine,  of  Pepin, 
of  Charlemagne  and  of  Matilda,  are  real  and  valid. 
This  assertion  may  appear  incredible,  but  in  1822  Ma- 
rino Malini,  the  pope's  chamberlain,  endeavored  to 
establish  the  genuineness  of  the  fictitious  charters  of 
Louis-de-Debonnaire,  of  Otho  I.,  and  of  Henry  II.,  in 
vindication  of  the  pope's  titles  of  the  alleged  grants 
to  the  See  of  Rome. 

If  the  apostolic  chair  of  St.  Peter  is  endowed  with  a 
divine  title  to  universal  temporal  sovereignty,  a  human 
title  is  supefluous.  The  indefatigable  exertions  of  the 
popes  to  establish  a  human  title  to  their  temporal  pos- 
sessions, is  a  concession  that  they  have  no  divine  title 
to  them,  and  that  a  human  title  is  necessary  to  the 
validity  of  their  claim.  But  as  they  have  based  their 
title  on  the  authority  of  forged  documents,  and  endea- 
vored to  fortify  and  maintain  it  by  successive  fabrica- 
tions of  the  same  nature,  it  is  evident  that  they  are 
fully  and  alarmingly  conscious  that  they  have  no 
title,  either  by  virtue  of  their  office,  or  by  that  of 
any  donation  whatever,  to  temporal  possession  or 
authority. 


MONARCHY."  219 

Not  only  is  the  holy  father's  temporal  power  a  usur- 
pation, but  so  is  also  his  exclusive  claim  to  the  use  of 
the  title  of  pope.  Every  bishop,  and  even  some  lay- 
men, in  the  first  centuries  of  Christianity,  bore  this 
title.  In  the  ancient  Greek  church  it  was  bestowed 
upon  every  clergyman.  At  the  General  Council  of 
Constantinople,  in  869,  its  adoption  was  first  limited 
to  the  four  patriarchs.  And  in  the  course  of  the  usur- 
pations of  the  holy  fathers,  pope  Gregory  VII.,  by  au- 
thority of  an  Italian  Council,  finally  assumed  it  as  the 
exclusive  title  of  the  bishops  of  Rome. 

The  popes,  the  monarchs  of  the  world,  in  vindicating 
their  title  to  the  States  of  the  Church,  had  to  maintain 
a  long,  bloody  and  desperate  struggle,  during  which 
their  domains  were  abridged  or  enlarged,  lost  or  won. 
according  to  the  varying  fortunes  of  their  arms  and  in- 
trigues. But  as  these  warlike  enterprises  of  the  holy 
fathers  were  intimately  connected  with  the  convulsions 
and  revolutions  of  Europe,  it  w^ill  prevent  repetition  by 
deferring  further  allusion  to  them  until  we  arrive  at 
the  subsequent  chapters,  in  which  we  shall  consider  the 
papal  political  intrigues  in  general. 

The  papal  monarchy  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
crafty,  demoralizing,  and  oppressive  despotisms  that 
has  ever  disgraced  the  name  of  government.  Its  am- 
bition is  insatiable,  its  duplicity  inscrutible,  and  its 
policy  and  measures  are  disgraceful  and  unprincipled. 
The  popes  have  converted  the  courteous  indulgence  of 
friendship  into  inviolable  rights,  and  from  the  feeblest 
concession  have  manufactured  the  most  exorbitant 
claim.  Pretending  to  be  spiritual  advisers,  they  be- 
came temporal  despots.     Soon  as  they  had  acquired  the 


220  THE   PAPAL 

riglit  of  owning  a  farm,  they  asserted  the  right  of  own- 
ing a  kingdom  ;  and  when  the  right  was  conceded  of 
owning  a  single  kingdom,   they  claimed  the   right  of 
owning  all  the  kingdoms   of  the  earth.     A   church,  a 
mission-house,  an  acre  of  land  they  construed  into  an 
implication  that  they  had  a  right  to  all  power,  temporal 
or  spiritual,  for  which  their  capacious  maw  could  crave. 
They  first  founded  mission-houses  in  different  parts  of 
the  world  ;  next  they  claimed  absolute  jurisdiction  over 
them.     Disputes  respecting   property   arising   between 
the  citizens   of  Eome  and  these  foreign  mission-houses 
of  the  church,  the  popes   claimed  the  exlusive  right  to 
arbitrate  between  them.     The  right  to  arbitrate  gave 
them  the  power  to  judge,  and  tho  opportunity  of  ad- 
justing  disputes   according    to   their   advantage.      As 
ecclesiastical   litigation    conduced    to  the   extension  of 
their  authority,  pontiffs  were  not  always  too  honorable  to 
discourage  the   causes  which  favored  their  mediatorial 
interposition.     From   tho   right   to   arbitrate    between 
churches,  they  next  claimed  the  right   to  arbitrate  be- 
tween   subjects,    then    between    cities,    then    between 
nobles,  and  then  between  monarchs.     As  their  media- 
tion in  church  or  state  affairs  enabled  them  to  adjust 
disputes  according  to  their  policy,  they  insidiously  la- 
bored   to    multiply   the    causes    which   favored   their 
friendly  intervention. 

By  a  succession  of  forgeries,  usurpations,  and  skilful 
manoeuvres  the  papal  government  advanced,  in  the  pro- 
gress of  events,  from  an  obscure  origin  to  supreme 
secular  and  spiritual  jurisdiction.  By  gradual  steps 
the  popes  acquired  the  right  to  decide  on  ecclesiastical 
and  matrimonial  questions ;  to  dispose  of  church  dig- 


MONARCHY.  221 

nlties  and  benefices ;  to  protect  their  temporal  acquisi- 
tions from  alianation  by  the  interdiction  of  the  mar- 
riage of  the  clergy ;  to  abridge  the  investiture  of  bish- 
oprics by  the  princes  ;  to  reduce  the  clergy  to  absolute 
dependence  on  their  favor  by  dissolving  all  bonds  of 
interest  which  subsisted  between  the  bishops  and  the 
princes;  to  convene  at  option  synods  and  councils, 
and  to  exercise  the  prerogative  of  ratifying  their  de- 
crees ;  to  command  the  concession  of  their  infallibility ; 
to  enforce  confessors  on  princes  and  statesmen  ;  to  in- 
troduce the  inquisition  into  kingdoms  ;  and  to  regulate 
and  superintend  schools  and  colleges.  The  attainment 
of  these  objects  was  the  work  of  centuries.  Conceiving 
a  desire  in  one  age,  they  plotted  for  its  accomplishment 
through  the  events  and  discords  of  succeeding  ages; 
and  when  machinations  had  matured  their  plan,  they 
consummated  their  wishes  by  usurpation.  The  preten- 
sions to  the  alleged  donation  of  Pepin,  of  Charlemagne, 
of  Matilda,  and  of  the  Gothic  princes,  were  not  asserted 
until  long  after  the  death  of  the  pretended  donors,  nor 
until  art  and  intrigue  had  prepared  the  way  for  it. 
The  alleged  grant  of  Constantine  was  first  announced 
in  765  by  Pope  Adrian  I.,  in  an  epistle  to  Charlemagne. 
The  claim  to  the  estates  of  Matilda  was  first  made  by 
Pope  Paschal,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  granted  to 
the  Holy  See  as  a  fief;  and  next  by  pope  Innocent  II., 
on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  granted  to  it  as  lord 
paramount.  The  participation  of  Pope  Leo  III.  in  the 
Consular  government  of  Rome,  in  a  paternal  capacity, 
was  the  first  instance  of  a  pope's  exercising  temporal 
authority.  The  anointing  of  Pepin  by  Pope  Adrian  I., 
in  imitation  of  the  example  of  Samuel,  was  the  first 
19* 


222  THE  PAPAL 

semblance  of  tlie  pope's  usurpation  of  the  prerogatives 
of  that  official  in  acknowledging  the  right  of   kings. 
The  victory  of  Nicholas  I.  over  the   Emperor  Lothair, 
was  the  first  papal  triumph  over  the  secular  authority. 
The  coronation   of  Charles  the  Bold,  in  875,  by  Pope 
John  VIII.,  was  the  first  act   of  the  papal  monarch  in 
disposing  of   crowns.     The  conquests  of  Eobert  Guis- 
card,  instigated  by  promises  of  the  popes,  furnished  the 
first  ground  of  their  feudal  claims.     The  fear  of  the 
terrible  consequences  of  their  anathemas  and  interdic- 
tions, the  ill  regulated  constitution   of  the  European 
States,  the  imperfection  of  domestic   and  international 
law,  and  the  efficient  operation  of  the  papal  machinery, 
enabled  them  to  render  kingdom  after  kingdom  tribu- 
tary to  the  Holy  See.     England,  from  the  period  of  the 
introduction  of  the  Catholic  church   into   her    realm; 
Belgaria  and  Aragon,  from  the  eleventh  century ;  Po- 
land and  Hungary  from  the  thirteenth  century ;  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  two  Sicilies,  from  1265,  had  been 
reduced  to  dependency  on  the  sacerdotal   monarchy; 
and  had  the  crusades  been  successful,  favored  by  the 
confusion   which   it    had    universally   produced    with 
regard  to  the  rights  of  citizens  and  the  titles  of  prop- 
erty, it  would  have,  under  the  pretext  of  a  zeal  to  wrest 
the  sepulchre  of  Christ  from  the  possession  of  the   Infi- 
dels,   reduced    the    world    to    a    state    of    vassalage. 
The    success   of   the  political   measures   and    intrigues 
of   the    Holy   See   having,    at  the    time    of    Gregory 
VII.,    raised    it    to    a    high    degree    of    power    and 
importance,   he   attempted  to   convert  it  into  a  theo- 
cratical    government,     with    the    pope    for    its    head, 
the  priests   for  its    officials,    the   people    for    its    sub- 


MONARCHY.  223 

jects,  and  the  world  for  its  dominion.  Under  Innocent 
III.,  elected  in  1195,  it  acquired  almost  unlimited  spir- 
itual and  temporal  authority.  Under  Sixtus  V.,  in 
1585,  it  contemplated  the  subjugation  of  Russia  and 
Egypt,  but  the  death  of  Bathore,  Duke  of  Tuscany, 
frustrated  the  design.  But  under  Pope  Clement  XII., 
in  1652,  its  power  began  to  decline.  He  was  obliged 
to  cede  Naples  to  Germany,  the  quarters  of  the  pope's 
embassadors  in  Venice  to  the  Venitian  government,  and 
the  right  of  investiture  in  Savoy  to  the  secular  author- 
ity. Pope  Pius  VI.,  elected  in  1775,  beheld  the  church 
property  in  France  confiscated,  and  the  religious  orders 
suppressed  ;  in  Naples  the  abolition  of  the  customary 
tribute  of  a  horse ;  in  Germany  the  interdiction  of  the 
nunciature ;  in  Italy  the  dismemberment  of  Romagna, 
Bologna  and  Ferrara ;  and  finally,  the  French  troops 
entering  Rome  and  declaring  it  a  republic. 

It  is  evident  from  the  facts  that  have  been  adduced, 
that  the  Catholic  church,  or  the  papal  monarchy,  desig- 
nates an  institution  which  has  politics  for  its  principles, 
monarchy  for  its  object,  and  religion  for  its  garb.  It  is 
not  only  political  in  its  nature  and  design,  but  it  is  a 
political  despotism,  insulting  in  its  pretensions  to  the 
common  sense  of  mankind,  and  dangerous  in  its  prin- 
ciples to  the  rights  of  independent  governments. 
When  we  consider  the  monarchial  principles  with  which 
it  is  constituted ;  its  blasphemous  arrogation  of  the  at- 
tributes and  prerogatives  of  the  deity  ;  its  presumptu- 
ous claim  to  supreme  jurisdiction  over  all  other  gov- 
ernments ;  the  base  forgeries  which  it  has  committed  in 
the  support  of  its  arbitrary  pretensions ;  its  impious 
scoff  at  secular  promises,  contracts,  laws,  oaths  and  con- 


224  THE   PAPAL 

stitutions  ;  its  atrocious  sanctions  of  prevarication,  of 
evasion,  and  of  mental  reservation ;  its  disgraceful  sys- 
tem of  espionage  ;  its  system  of  finance,  by  whicli  it 
wrings  from  beggars  their  pittance,  from  the  laborer  the 
reward  of  his  toil,  from  the  dying  the  inheritance  of 
heirs ;  that  it  may  pile  the  wealth  of  the  world  in  secret 
coffers,  to  be  lavished  on  bribery,  on  corruption,  on  po- 
litical intermeddling,  on  fomenting  sedition  and  con- 
spiracies, and  ultimately,  through  the  means  of  their  dis- 
organizing agencies,  for  the  subjugation  of  all  govern- 
ments under  its  absolute  authority.  When  we  behold 
the  blood-stained  sword  which  it  has  drawn  in  the  sup- 
port of  its  frauds  and  usurpations  ;  the  frequent  con- 
vulsions with  which  its  unprincipled  ambition  has 
shaken  the  world ;  its  triumphs  over  science,  freedom 
and  human  right ;  the  rapine,  devastated  fields,  and 
burning  cities  which  has  marked  the  progress  of  its 
career ;  or  when  we  turn  our  eyes  to  its  late  condition 
in  Italy,  and  see,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  under  its 
authority,  the  inquisition  at  its  bloody  work ;  the  study 
of  philosophy  banished  from  universities ;  no  book  al- 
lowed to  be  published,  or  imported,  except  such  as  meet 
the  approval  of  bigoted  censors  ;  the  government  sus- 
tained only  by  suppressing  insurrection  ;  the  prisons 
crowded  with  heretics  ;  political  offenders  cruelly  put 
to  death  ;  the  nation  struggling  for  freedom,  but  bound 
in  the  fetters  of  despotism — good  heavens  !  what  a 
scourge  is  it,  and  has  it  been  to  mankind.  Bigotry  and 
superstition  may  chaunt  its  victories ;  but  a  land  once 
prosperous,  now  choaked  up  and  oppressed  with  the  ru- 
ins of  its  former  greatness ;  fields  once  fertile  now 
turned   into   barren   wastes ;  a  people    once  the  most 


MONARCHY.  225 

valiant,  polished  and  civilized,  now  the  most  debased, 
rude  and  imbecile — with  ancestors  that  governed  the 
world,  now  not  able  to  govern  themselves  ;  a  common- 
wealth of  kings,  now  a  commonwealth  of  slaves ;  where 
for  liberty  Cicero  plead,  Brutus  stabbed  and  Cato  died, 
now  a  pope  curses,  an  inquisition  murders,  and  prisons 
reverberate  with  the  groans  of  patriots  and  freemen. 
These,  oh  patriots  !  are  the  eternal  monuments  that 
commemorate  the  progress  and  achievements  of  the 
papal  monarchy.  The  usurper  of  all  rights,  the  sancti- 
fier  of  all  wrongs,  the  shrine  of  bigotry,  the  model  of 
despotism :  the  church  now  stands  reaffirming  the 
crimes  and  errors  of  centuries,  and  is  thirsting  for  an 
opportunity  of  repeating  its  past  horrible  history.  Such 
is  the  papal  monarchy ;  such  is  the  Catholic  church ; 
such  is  the  political  institution  which  she  claims  the 
divine  authority  to  obtrude,  by  any  means,  on  the 
world ;  and  such  are  the  demoralizing,  seditious  and 
treasonable  principles  which  she  carries  in  her  bosom, 
scatters  in  her  pathway,  and  is  laboring  to  implant  in 
the  American  republic,  in  order  that  she  may  overthrow 
its  structure,  that  monarchy  may  supplant  its  lib- 
eral principles,  despotic  decrees  its  legislative  enact- 
ments, arbitrary  appointments  its  popular  elections, 
aristocracy  its  equality,  slavery  its  freedom,  usurpa- 
tion its  guarantees  of  natural  rights,  and  bigotry,  vio- 
lence, and  superstition  its  tolerance,  order  and  science. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FAFAL    FOLITICAL    INTBIOUES   IJST 
ENGLAND. 

Fapal  Foliiical  Machinery — Fapal  Folitical  Intrigues 
in  England,  under  the  Feigns  of  Henry  II. — of  King 
John — of  Henry  VII. — of  Charles  I — of  Charles 
II. — of  James  II. — of  William  and  Mary. 

The  design  of  ruling  nations  was  clearly  indicated  by 
the  principles  upon  wliich  the  monastic  orders  were 
founded.  Regarding  supremacy  to  the  pope  as  the 
main  substance  of  Christianity,  and  obedience  to  his 
will  as  necessary  to  salvation,  their  doctrines  har- 
monized with  his  claim  to  supreme  temporal  and  spir- 
itual power ;  and  their  organization,  based  strictly  on 
monarchial  principles,  skilfully  adapted  to  secure 
unity  and  concentration  of  action,  formed,  together  with 
the  military  knights,  a  political  machinery  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  papal  interests,  which  was  capable  of 
intimidating  the  boldest  antagonist,  and  of  shaking  the 
power  of  the  strongest  government.  With  the  knowl- 
edge of  this  fact  we  may  perceive  the  origin  of  some  of 
those  mysterious  seditions  and  rebellions  which  have 
arisen  apparently  from  trifling  causes,  and  which,  from 
insignificant  beginnings  have  gained  such  strength  and 
dimensions  as  to  dismay  the  valor  of  disciplined  arms, 
and  distract  every  section  of  the  land,  and  every  de- 
partment of  the  government.     We  may  also  perceive 


IN   ENGLAND.  227 

from  tlie  same  fact,  why  tlie  struggle  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty  has  been  such  a  long,  bloody,  and  inter- 
minable conflict.  That  rational  beings  should  trample 
upon  their  rights,  surrender  up  their  personal  sover- 
eignty, kneel  in  adoration  at  the  feet  of  a  despot,  delib- 
erately rivet  on  their  own  limbs  the  irons  of  slavery, 
crucify  their  champions,  and  deify  their  enemies,  is  cer- 
tainly strange ;  and  without  the  supposition  of  the 
intervention  of  some  secret  power  by  which  reason  was 
unseated  in  such  instances,  it  is  not  conceivable.  But 
that  the  pope,  by  means  of  his  political  machinery,  is 
capable  of  producing  identical  extraordinary  effects,  is 
a  fact  supported  by  the  irrefragable  testimony  of  history; 
and  that  he  has  never  scrupled  to  exercise  his  terrible 
power  whenever  his  ambitious  projects  required  it,  un- 
awed  by  the  magnitude  of  the  public  calamity  which  it 
threatened  to  entail,  is  a  fact  written  with  the  blood 
and  tears  of  nations.  The  secrecy,  extent,  and  irresist- 
ible energy  of  his  power,  have  sometimes  led  his  unsus- 
pecting subjects  to  regard  him  as  a  magician  ;  and 
sometimes  they  have  been  the  cause  of  his  arraignment 
before  councils  on  the  charge  of  practising  magic,  and 
of  having  dealings  with  the  devil.  But  although  the 
effects  which  he  produced  were  as  malignant  and  sur- 
prising as  those  which  have  been  ascribed  to  the  super- 
natural power  of  the  arch-fiend,  yet  the  only  magic  he 
ever  had  the  necessity  of  using  was  his  political  ma- 
chinery ;  through  which  he  could  charm  like  the  poi- 
sonous adder ;  mislead  like  the  fabled  sirens ;  pervert 
the  public  judgment ;  calm  or  distract  a  nation  ;  excite 
it  to  rebel  against  its  best  governor,  or  to  enthrone  in 
power  its  bitterest  foe. 


228  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

From  the  hour  wlien  first  the  Catholic  church  planted 
her  foot  on  the  soil  of  England  until  the  present  mo- 
ment, her  emissaries  have  labored  as  far  as  practicable, 
by  every  available  means,  under  every  garb,  in  all 
departments  of  the  government,  and  at  all  periods  of 
its  history,  to  subject  the  nation  to  the  despotism  of 
Rome.  For  a  long  period  the  priests  were  the  instruct- 
ors of  her  princes,  the  advisers  of  her  kings,  and  under 
the  semblance  of  spiritual  guides,  the  spies  on  their 
thoughts  and  actions. 

Passing  by  the  numerous  instances  of  papal  political 
intrigue  in  the  history  of  England,  we  will  glance  at  a 
few  of  those  which  have  taken  place  since  the  corona- 
tion of  Henry  II.,  in  1154.  The  most  accomplished 
prince  of  his  time,  and  celebrated  for  the  acuteness  of  his 
judgment  and  the  equitableness  of  his  decisions,  he  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  his  regal  cotemporaries  the  dis- 
tinguished honor  of  being  chosen  by  them  as  their  arbi- 
ter, to  settle  their  matters  of  dispute.  He  received 
also,  from  the  policy  or  generosity  of  Pope  Adrian  IV., 
a  gift  of  the  kingdom  of  Ireland.  The  following  extract 
from  Adrian's  bull  on  that  occasion  will  explain  the  na- 
ture and  object  of  the  donation  :  "  No  one  doubts,  and 
you  know  the  fact  yourself,  that  Ireland,  and  all  the 
isles  that  have  received  the  Christian  faith  belong  to  the 
church  of  Rome.  And  you  have  signified  to  us  that 
you  wish  to  enter  this  island,  in  order  to  subject  the 
people  to  the  laws,  and  extirpate  their  vices ;  to  make 
them  pay  to  St.  Peter  a  penny  a  year  for  each  house, 
and  preserve  in  all  things  the  rights  of  the  church  ; 
which  we  grant  to  you  with  pleasure  for  the  increase  of 
the  Christian  religion." — (Labb.  13,  14,  15).     At  the 


IN  ENGLAND.  229 

dictation  of  the  pope,  tlie  Irish,  clergy  met  at  Water- 
ford  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Henry  and  his 
successors.  Thus  by  a  pretended  prerogative  of  popery, 
"  Ireland  was  blotted  from  the  map,  and  consigned  to 
the  loss  of  freedom,  without  a  tribunal  and  without  a 
crime," — (McGeoghegan,  1 :  440).  But  notwithstand- 
ing the  munificent  bounty  of  the  pope,  yet  the  growing 
weight  of  the  ecclesiastical  establishments — so  oppres- 
sive to  the  industry  and  enterprize  of  the  people — and 
the  continual  and  insidious  encroachments  of  the 
clergy  on  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  determined 
Henry,  under  the  administration  of  Pope  Alexander 
III.,  to  summon  a  council  of  nobles  and  clergy  at 
Clarendon,  to  frame  such  a  constitution  as  would  be 
adequate  for  the  protection  of  the  prerogatives  of  the 
crown  and  the  rights  of  the  subjects.  The  principles  of 
this  constitution,  like  seeds  sown  among  thorns  and 
brambles,  were  in  danger  of  being  oppressed  in  their 
early  growth  by  a  heavy  encumbrance  of  Catholic  ig- 
norance and  superstition ;  and  not  until  intelligence 
and  public  spirit  had  removed  the  obstruction  did  they 
show  their  native  benificent  vigor.  Under  the  stormy 
reign  of  Henry  II.  they  were  checked,  thwarted,  and 
at  times  almost  extirpated ;  but  under  that  of  King 
John  they  produced  the  "  Magna  Charta,"  under  that 
of  Charles  II.  the  "  Habeas  Corpus,"  and  under  those 
of  succeding  princes  the  various  liberal  acts  which  con- 
stitute English  liberty. 

Although  this  liberal  and  judicious  constitution  had 

received  the  sanction  of  the  Council  of  Clarendon,  yet 

it  was  violently  opposed  by  Thomas-a-Becket,  the  oracle 

of  the  pope,  and  the  chief  engineer  of  his  political  ma- 

19* 


230  PAPEL  POLITICAL  INTRIGUES 

cHnery  in  England.     Denouncing  it  as  a  profane  in- 
fraction of  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the  church, 
he  proceeded  to  excommunicate  all  persons  who  had 
acquired,  or  should  acquire  ecclesiastical  property  under 
the  authority  of  its  provisions.     In  savage  zeal  in  be- 
half of  the  pope,  he  had  violated  his  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  hing ;  and  thus  imprudently  furnished  his  antag- 
onists with  legal  authority  to  retaliate  the  mischief  of 
revenge  by  the  confiscation  of  all  his  property.     Chag- 
rined at  the  triumph,  of  his  foes,  and  exasperated  at  the 
loss  of  his  temporal  possessions,  he  sought  to  solace  his 
wounded  pride,  and  vent  the  ebullitions  of  his  despair 
and  rage  in  excommunicating  the  principal  officers  of 
the  crown,  and  all  who  should  presume  to  violate  the 
church  prerogatives.     But  duly  impressed  with  the  in- 
trinsic impotence  of  his  own  curses,  and  that  neither 
their  sanctity  nor  potency  could  protect   his   insolent 
tongue  from  punishment  even  while  uttering  them,  he 
fled  to  France,  that  he  might  exercise  with  impunity 
his  sacred  functions  in  cursing  his  foes.     By  the  man- 
dates of   his  anathema  the  papal  machinery   was,   of 
course,  set  in  violent  operation  to  destroy  the  king  for 
the  benefit  of  the  church,  and  to  invoke  in  its  cause  the 
insidious  but  formidable   aid  of  scandal,   vituperation 
and  defamation.     The  brilliant  qualities  of  Henry  were 
unfortunately   overshaded  with  the  dark  vice   of   un- 
chastity.     As  greater  rakes  are   often  horrified  at  the 
peccadillos    of   lesser  ones,   so  in  this  case,    the  more 
profligate  clergy  became  exceedingly  exasperated  upon 
discovering  in  the  conduct  of  Henry  the  practice  of 
their  own  irregularities,  modified  by  less  grossness  and 
more  refinement.     Not   possessing  that  charity  which 


IN  ENGLAND. 


231 


coveietli  a  multitude   of  sins,  but  that  religion  wHcli 
magnifies,  distorts  and  publishes  them,  they  soon  man- 
aged to  startle  the  sobriety  of  every  hamlet  with  whis- 
pers of  the  king's  incredible  depravity.     To  secure  the 
visitation  of  divine  justice  on  the  head  of  Henry,  they 
profaned  the  sanctity  of  his  domestic  circle  by  the  dis- 
semination  of  treacherous  and  extravagant  inventions, 
until  the  queen  was  frenzied  with  jealousy,  and  Geoffry 
and  Richaid,  two  sons  of  Henry,  were  incited  to  rebel- 
lion.    The  prudence  and  martial  abilities  of  the  king 
enabled  him,  however,  soon  to  suppress  these  afflictive 
and   unnatural    seditions.     But   the    papal   machinery, 
more  tremendous  and  pestiferious  than  the  fabled  mon- 
sters  of  antiquity,  with  their  poisonous  breath,   their 
hundred  heads  and  thousand  hands,  was  still  in  action 
in  every  part  of  the  empire.     Hence  Henry's  son  Louis, 
whom  he  had  crowned  as  his  successor,  was  induced  to 
demand  of  him  the  surrender  of  the  diadem.     In  anti- 
cipation of  this  demand  papal  intrigue  had  secured  the 
support  of  France  and  Scotland  in  its  favor ;  and  con- 
sequently England  was  suddenly  involved  in  the  hor- 
rors of  a  civil  and  a  foreign  war.     But  the  coolness  and 
extraordinary  military  genius   of   Henry  was  adequate 
to  the  terrible  emergency.     After  a  desperate  contest  he 
repelled  the  invaders,  and  restored  order  to  his  king- 
dom.    But  the  moral  effluvia  which  was  produced  by 
the  action  of  the  papal  political  machinery,  continued 
still  to  generate  those  noxious  vapors  which  had  so  fre- 
quently overclouded  the   atmosphere  of  England,  and 
broke  in  storms  of  pestilence,  blood  and  death.     The 
peace  of  his  kingdom  was  consequently  again  disturbed 
by  the  discovery  of  a  conspiracy,  at  the  head  of  which 


232  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES. 

was  Eichard,  Henry's  third  son,  and  complicated  witK 
which  was  John,  his  favorite  and  youngest  son.     Upon 
the  disclosure   of  this  mortifying  fact,   the  king  pro- 
nounced a  curse  upon  his  rebellious   children,  which 
was  more  properly  merited  by  the  pope  and  the  father 
confessors  of  the  princes,  to  whom  the  first  conception 
of  their  treason  was  known  ;  and  if  they  did  not  origi- 
nate, might  have  blasted  it  in  its  bud.     But  Henry  was 
unconsciously  dealing  with  an  invisible  monster,  that 
in  the  garb  of  a  holy  father  was  commanding  his  hom- 
age and  reverence,  while  it  was  profaning  his  domestic 
hearth,    exciting    his    subjects    to    sedition,    his    chil- 
dren to  rebellion,  and  at  the  same  time  inducing  him 
to   attribute  to  his   family  and  subjects  the   dreadful 
calamities  that  had  been  conjured  by  the  machinations 
of  the  monster  himself.     Had  Henry  had  the  sagacity 
to  penetrate  the  secrets  of  the  Holy  See,  and  had  he 
been   able,   in    defiance  of   a   papal  alliance   with  the 
united  crowned  heads  of  Christendom,  to  have  annulled 
the  authority  of  the  pope  in  his  relm,  and  broken  up 
the  machinery  of   his   treasonable    machinations,    how 
effectually  might  he  have  suppressed  the  rebellion  of 
his  sons,  and  the  disorders  of  his  kingdom ;  and  what 
a  blessing  he  would  have  been  to  England  and  to  man- 
kind.    Freedom  will,  however,  ever  be  grateful  to  the 
king,  who  laid  the  foundation   of    England's  liberty. 
The  cost  at  which  he  purchased  this  invaluable  legacy 
for  posterity  was  as  tremendous  as  are  the  obligations 
of  gratitude  which  it  imposes.     His  family  converted 
into    a  nest  of   venomous  reptiles;    his   sons,    around 
whom  his  fondest  hopes  had  clustered,  transformed  into  . 
treacherous  foes;    his  laborious  efforts  to  elevate  the 


MONARCHY.  233 

importance  and  improve  the  condition  of  his  subjects, 
converted  into  sources  of  the  deepest  of  misfortunes ; 
these  were  the  papal  demands,  outweighing  the  wealth 
of  worlds,  which  were  imposed  on  him  for  having 
served  the  cause  of  justice,  of  humanity,  and  of  his 
country ;  and  under  the  rigorous  exactions  of  these  de- 
mands, three  days  after  the  disclosure  of  the  last  con- 
spiracy of  his  sons,  he  sunk  into  an  unconsecrated 
grave,  ruined  and  broken  hearted. 

The  Papal  See  governed  by  an  unscrupulous  ambi- 
tion to  realize  the  success  of  its  projects  for  acquiring 
unbounded  territorial  aggrandizement,  has,  w^ith  equal 
craft  and  baseness,  endeavored  to  make  the  vices  as  well 
as  the  power  of  princes  administer  to  its  interests.  This 
policy  is  illustrated  in  the  schemes  of  papal  policy  and 
intrigue  concocted  under  the  reign  of  King  John, 
youngest  son  of  Henry  II.,  who  on  the  decease  of  his 
father  in  1199  ascended  the  English  throne.  This 
prince  had  conspired  against  the  most  indulgent  of 
fathers,  had  warred  against  his  brother  Richard,  had 
murdered  his  brother  Arthur,  had  repudiated  his  wives, 
and  had  exercised  regal  authority  with  insolence  and 
tyranny,  without  provoking  the  maledictions  or  inter- 
ference of  the  Holy  See.  But  as  these  enormities  de- 
prived him  of  the  affections  of  his  subjects,  a  ruler's 
chief  support ;  exhausted  his  coffers,  the  sinews  of  war 
and  opposition;  made  him  more  dependent  on  the 
favor  of  Rome,  more  entangled  in  the  network  of  its 
policy,  and  admirably  prepared  the  way  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  its  ulterior  designs,  its  indulgence,  and 
perhaps  connivance  may  be  reasonably  accounted  for. 
But  after  a  war  with  France  exhausted  the  resources 
20* 


234  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTBIGUES 

of  John,  rendered  him  less  popular,  and  more  irascible 
and  impatient,  Pope  Innocent  III.  improved  the  flatter- 
ing opportunity  which  crime  and  misfortune  had  pre- 
sented, to  provoke  a  collision  with  him  favorable  to  the 
success  of  the  papal  designs.     John  claimed  the  right 
of  investiture  ;  and  in  making  this  claim  seems  to  have 
been  supported  by  the  cooperation  of  the  papal  politi- 
cal machinery.     The  See  of  Canterbury  having  become 
vacant,  the  pope  appointed  Cardinal  Langston  to  fill 
the  vacancy.     This  act  John  resisted  as  an  unjustifiable 
encroachment  on  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown.     But 
the  arts  of  the  pope  had  involved  the  king  in  a  snare ; 
and  now  having   fairly  entangled   him,  proceeded   to 
prepare  the  way  for  realizing  his  temporal  project  by 
exercising  his  spiritual  functions.     Accordingly  he  sus- 
pended the   performance    of   religious   worship  in  the 
king's  dominions,  excommunicated  him,  and  absolved 
his  subjects  from  their  allegiance  to  him.     The  papal 
political  machinery  acting  in  harmony  with  the  male- 
dictions of  the  pope,  the  wildest  disorders  were  excited 
among  the  people  ;    anarchy  suspended  all  law ;    the 
army  refused  to  obey  the  king's  orders  ;  his  friends  de- 
serted him ;  and  he  found  himself  without  domestics, 
without  alliances,  and  without  the  means  of  resistance. 
It  is  an  invariable  practice  of  the  holy  fathers,  who 
claim  a  right  to  all  the  world  by  virtue  of  their  ofiice, 
to  endeavor  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  this  title  by 
acquiring  a  legal  one.     Hence,  Innocent  III.,  seeing  the 
helpless  condition  to  which  he  had  reduced  John,  and 
touched  at  the  cruel  misfortunes  in  which  he  had  in- 
volved him,  now  graciously  proposed  to  mitigate  the 
rigors  of  his  adversities,  and  to  restore  him  to  his  for- 


IN   ENGLAND.  2S5 

mer  authority,  if  he  would  cede  his  kingdom  to  the  Pope 
of  Borne,  and  consent  to  rule  it  as  a  vassal  of  the  pope. 
Divested  of  adherents,  arms  or  alliances,  the  king  sub- 
mitted unconditionally  to  the  terms  dictated  by  the  sa- 
cerdotal despot.  The  design  of  the  papal  See  of 
reducing  England  to  a  state  of  vassalage,  conceived  in 
ambition,  pursued  by  craft  and  cruelty,  was  thus  con- 
summated by  the  most  execrable  tyranny.  This  empty 
title  to  England  and  Ireland,  so  full  of  trick  and  fraud, 
is  nevertheless  still  mentioned  by  the  Holy  See  as  valid 
and  indisputable. 

But  the  benefits  of  the  statesmanship,  and  of  the 
divinely  inspired  council  of  the  holy  father,  by  which 
John  was  bound  in  future  to  be  governed  in  the  admin- 
istration of  his  kingdom,  did  not  prevent  him  from  ex- 
citing the  indignation  of  his  subjects,  by  encroachments 
on  their  rights  ]  nor  restrain  him  from  the  perpetration 
of  such  unwarrantable  acts  as  created  a  popular  hat- 
red of  him,  which  finally  culminated  in  open  resist- 
ance to  his  authority.  So  violent  were  the  conflicts 
that  arose  between  him  and  his  subjects,  that  in  order 
to  save  his  crown  he  had  to  yield  to  their  demand  the 
act  of  the  "  Magna  Charta."  The  pope,  however,  the 
natural  foe  of  all  constitutional  guarantees  of  popular 
right  and  liberty,  benevolently  interposed  in  behalf  of 
the  imbecile  and  overawed  prince,  and  absolved  him 
from  all  obligations  to  comply  with  any  of  the  unplea- 
sant concessions  which  he  had  made ;  declaring  the 
Magna  Charta  antagonistical  to  the  Catholic  religion ; 
forbidding  the  king  to  observe  any  of  its  provisions  ; 
and  pronouncing  sentence  of  excommunication  on  all 
who  should  obey,  or  attempt  to  enforce  the  heretical 


23ft  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

act.  Again  the  papal  macliinery  was  set  in  violent 
operation.  Spies  watched,  confessors  reported,  abbots 
schemed,  bishops  predicted,  priests  thundered,  monks 
prowled  and  assassins  murdered,  until  every  city,  vil- 
lage and  house,  was  distracted  with  alarm.  In  the 
midst  of  the  consternation  which  stupefied  the  public 
mind  the  king,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
papal  machinery,  suddenly  appeared  at  the  head  of  a 
formidable  army ;  and  as  if  he  were  a  foreign  enemy, 
commenced  butchering  his  subjects,  firing  their  dwell- 
ings and  carrying  terror  and  devastation  through  his 
own  kingdom.  So  profoundly  secret  were  the  papal 
machinations  carried  on,  and  so  suddenly  and  unex- 
pectedly had  John  appeared  with  an  army  fully 
equipped  for  war  that — no  suspicion  of  such  a  design  hav- 
ing been  excited  in  the  minds  of  the  military  barons — 
no  preparations  were  made  to  meet  the  emergency.  As 
suddenly,  mysteriously,and  adroitly  as  King  John's  army 
had  sprung  into  existence,  so  did  the  barons  resolve, 
in  order  to  defeat  its  object,  to  tender  the  crown  of  the 
realm  to  France  ;  which  proffer  being  accepted,  the  in- 
trigues of  the  pope  were  thwarted,  and  Philip  of 
France  became  sovereign  of  England. 

The  popes  claim  the  divine  attribute  of  infallibility, 
yet  in  changing  their  policy  and  practice  to  suit  the 
variations  of  time,  place  and  circumstance,  they  seem 
generally  to  have  descended  to  the  common  level  of 
humanity.  In  order,  however,  to  reconcile  the  irrecon- 
cilable, while  they  profess  to  have  had  communicated  to 
them  the  incommunicable,  they  claim  to  have  been  en- 
dowed with  power  to  change  the  unchangeable.  Should 
a  prince  resolve  to  do  that  which  the  pope's  infallible 


IN   ENGLAND.  237 

holiness  has  declared  to  be  criminal,  and  should  that 
prince  happen  to  be  too  powerful  to  be  intimidated, 
and  too  dangerous  to  be  provoked  into  rebellion,  in 
such  delicate  cases  the  pope,  with  his  facilities  to  ac- 
commodate all  difficulties,  grants  a  dispensation,  where- 
by the  applicant  is  empowered  to  violate  all  the  infal- 
lible laws  of  the  church  without  incurring  any  of  their 
penalties. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIL,  who  became  king  of 
England  in  1485,  we  find  an  illustration  of  this  policy. 
That  sovereign  had  married  Arthur,  his  eldest  son,  to 
Catherine,  daughter  of  Ferdinand,  king  of  Arragon.  On 
the  decease  of  Arthur,  the  king,  with  the  view  of  retaining 
the  opulent  Spanish  dowery  in  his  family,  desired  to 
marry  the  widow  of  Arthur  to  his  next  son.  The 
young  prince  Henry,  but  fifteen  years  old,  protested 
against  marrying  a  lady  for  whom  he  had  no  affection, 
and  who  was  so  much  his  senior.  Besides  this  diffi- 
culty the  contemplated  alliance  was  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  consanguinity,  so  solemnly  established  by  the 
authority  of  the  infallible  church,  and  so  terriffically 
armed  with  all  the  terrors  of  anathemas  and  excommu- 
nication. To  silence  the  objection  of  his  son,  and  the 
thunders  of  the  Vatican,  Henry  applied  to  the  pope  for 
permission  to  execute  his  purposes,  in  violation  of  the 
established  laws  of  the  church ;  and  the  pope,  not 
deeming  it  prudent  to  ofi'end  so  powerful  a  potentate, 
granted  his  request  But  vain  are  the  pope's  preten- 
sions to  be  able  to  change  the  moral  law  of  heaven  un- 
less he  can  also  change  the  natural  course  of  events. 
In  this  attempt  to  accommodate  principle  to  interest, 
and  the  infallible  laws  of  the  church  to  the  changing 


238  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

wliim  of  an  avaricious  monarcli,  he  laid  the  foundation 
for  the  final  separation  of  the  kingdom  of  England  from 
the  See  of  Home. 

After  the  death  of  Henry  VII.  his  son,  under  the 
title  of  Henry  VIII.,  succeeded  to  the  British  throne. 
Frank  and  vain,  he  became  at  an  early  period  of  his 
life  an  object  of  the  subtle  policy  of  Rome.  Naturally 
generous,  his  indomitable  love  of  power  and  dominion 
often  led  him  to  violate  the  obligations  of  humanity ; 
and  impetuous  in  passion,  and  impatient  of  restraint, 
he  was  tempted  to  annihilate  the  constitutional  restraints 
which  conflicted  with  his  designs,  and  to  make  the  forms 
of  justice  subservient  to  the  gratification  of  his  ambi- 
tion and  interest. 

Happening  to  become  enamored  of  Anne  Bolyne,  he 
began    to   suspect   the    legality  of   his   marriage   with 
Catherine  ;  and  though  he  had  recognized  its  obliga- 
tions by  a  union   of  twenty  years,  yet  the  oftener  he 
saw  his  mistress  the  stronger  became  his  convictions  of 
the  heterodoxy  and  unlawfulness  of   his  matrimonial 
relations,  and  the  more  scrupulous  he  became  about  his 
chastity.     The  want  of  male  issue,  and  the  disparity  of 
years  between  him  and  his  wife  mingled  reflections  with 
these  legal  and  religious  scruples,  and  made  them  so 
pungent  that  Henry,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  torment 
thus  inflicted,  finally  applied  to  the  pope  for  a  divorce. 
The  pope  promised  to  grant  his  request ;  but  the  fear  of 
ofltending    Charles   V.,    Catherine's   nephew,    produced 
strange  vacillation  in  the  mind  of  the  infallible  holy 
father.     Two  powerful  and  crafty  princes   dictated  to 
him  opposite  courses ;  to  ofi'end  either  would  be  disas- 
trous ;  he  therefore  pretended  to  favor  the  wishes  of 


IN  ENGLAND.  239 

botli.  Aware  of  papal  artifice,  however,  Henry  became 
imperious  in  his  demands.  The  pope  appeared  to  yield, 
and  to  soothe  the  impatient  prince  with  a  semblance  of 
compliance,  but  a  means  of  procrastination,  he  commis- 
sioned Cardinals  Wolsey  and  Campaggio  to  adjust  the 
difficulty.  They  cited  the  queen  to  appear  before  them  ; 
she  appealed  to  the  pope  ;  they  declared  her  contuma- 
cious. By  these  proceedings  the  controversy  becom- 
ing more  embarrassed  than  before,  and  less  capable  of  a 
speedy  solution,  Henry  peremptorily  decided  the  mat- 
ter by  consummating  his  marriage  with  Anne  Bolyne. 
This  act  astonished  the  pope,  and  enraged  Charles  V. 
To  gratify  Charles,  and  to  punish  Henry,  the  holy 
father  proceeded  to  excommunicate  the  latter.  The 
despotic  character  of  Henry,  howevi^,  had  too  much 
overawed  his  subjects  to  allow  the  papal  machinery  to 
give  much  efficacy  to  the  manifestos  of  its  prime  en- 
gineer ;  and  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Catho- 
lic church  in  England,  he  released  his  subjects  from  al- 
legiance to  the  See  of  Rome,  effected  a  separation  from 
it,  and  nullified  its  temporal  authority  over  his  do- 
minions. 

Discarding  the  dogma  of  the  pope's  temporal  power, 
Henry  still  strictly  adhered  to  the  standard  of  Catholic 
theology  in  all  other  respects ;  and  the  pope,  at  the 
same  time,  through  the  medium  of  Cardinal  Wolsey, 
continued  to  exert  considerable  indirect  influence  on 
his  mind.  This  prelate  who,  while  he  was  a  preacher 
at  Limington  was  put  into  the  stocks  for  disorderly 
conduct  in  a  drunken  frolic  ;  who  afterwards  was  made 
domestic  chaplain  by  Dean,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  who  was  finally  created  cardinal  by  the  pope,  ob- 


240-  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

tained  sucn  unlimited  power  over  the  mind  of  Henry 
that  the  pope  pensioned  him  to  keep  him  in  his  inter- 
est. It  is  not  a  matter  of  much  surprise  that  Henry's 
aversion  to  the  reformers,  inflamed  by  the  arts  of  such 
a  vicious  counsellor,  should  have  brought  so  many  of 
them  to  the  stake ;  nor  that  the  bigotry  and  intoler- 
ance of  Catholicism  should  have  survived  the  destruc- 
tion of  its  political  engine.  Henry  VIII.  condemned 
to  death  Lambert,  a  school  teacher,  for  denying  the  real 
presence  At  intervals  during  his  reign  he  rigorously 
persecutea  the  Protestants  Catherine  Parr,  his  last 
wife,  barely  escaped  execution  for  having  encouraged  the 
reformers.  A  warrant  had  been  wrung  from  the  king 
by  the  Bishop  of  AVinchester,  for  her  committal  to  the 
Tower  on  the  charge  of  heretical  opinions ;  but  having 
become  secretly  apprised  of  the  fact  in  time  she  sought 
the  king,  and  satisfied  him  that  when  she  had  objected 
to  his  opinions  it  was  from  a  desire  to  become  enlight- 
ened by  his  superior  knowledge  and  intelligence. 
"While  he  employed  violent  means  to  enforce  con- 
formity to  the  Catholic  theology,  he  visited  equal 
vengeance  on  those  who  advocated  the  pope's  tem- 
poral authority.  When  he  discovered  that  the  monks 
and  friars  were  guilty  of  defending  the  obnoxious 
heresy  of  the  pope's  temporal  power,  he  suppressed  their 
houses ;  but  not  wishing  to  destroy  the  monastic 
orders,  he  applied  the  sequestered  funds  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  other  similar  institutions ;  but  on  perceiv- 
ing these  also  to  be  secretly  engaged  in  machinations  to 
restore  the  pope's  temporal  authority,  he  abolished  the 
religious  orders  altogether.  Even  Cardinal  Wolsey  fell 
under  his  suspicion,  and  was  executed  for  treason  by 


IN   ENGLAND.  241 

his  order.  After  he  had  beheaded  his  wife,  Catherine 
Howard  for  unchastity,  his  severity  against  those  who 
advocated  the  pope's  temporal  sovereignty,  and  against 
those  who  denied  the  Romish  theology,  was  cruel  in  the 
highest  degree. 

What  papal  rapaciousness  cannot  boldly  grasp,  it  will 
secretly  plot  to  obtain.  Kings  who  control  nations, 
women  who  may  perhaps  control  kings,  and  children 
who  are  presumptive  heirs  of  empires,  are  powerful  in- 
struments in  the  accomplishment  of  political  designs, 
and  especial  objects  of  papal  intrigue. 

The  inveterate   opposition   to  Catholics  in  England 
rendered  it  almost  impos.sible  for  a  Catholic  to  ascend 
the  throne,  and  eventually  interdicted  it  by  positive 
enactments.     To   counteract   the  consequences  of  this 
-  spirit,  a  scheme  was  projected  by  papal  craft  to  have 
the  heirs  of  the  throne  educated  by  Catholic  mothers, 
so   that   future  kings  might  rule  as   Protestants  with 
Catholic  proclivities,  and  in  course  of  time,  through  the 
demoralization,  dissatisfaction,  discord  and  blood  eflfected 
by   the    cooperation    of    its    adherents,    the    suprem- 
acy of  the  pope  might  be  reestablished  in  England, 
James  I.,  who  on  the  death  of  Elizabeth  succeeded  to 
the  crown  of  England  and  Scotland,  a  ruler  devoid  of 
statesmen-like  abilities,  without   firmness  or  stability, 
and  bloated  up  with  fanciful  notions  of  royal  preroga- 
tives, was  the  pliant  instrument  of  this  subtle  policy. 
An  amorous  flame  having  been  kindled  in  him  and  in 
Henrietta  Maria,  daughter  of  Henry  IV.,  of  France,  it 
was  stipulated  that  the  union  should  be  consummated, 
on  condition  that  the  heirs  which  should  issue  should 
be  subject  to  the  exclusive  control  of  their  mother  un- 


242  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTBIGUES 

til  they  were  thirteen  years  of  age.  This  contract 
secured  a  Catholic  education  to  the  heirs  of  the  British 
throne,  and  laid  the  foundations  for  the  dreadful  calam- 
ities which  afflicted  the  nation  during  the  reigns  of 
Charles  II.  and  James  II. 

The  abolition  of  papal  despotism  over  the  English 
mind  giving  freedom  to  thought  and  inquiry,  could  not 
but  enlarge  its  conceptions  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
The  old  system  of  prerogatives  sunk  into  contempt,  and 
the  new  system  of  representative  government  became 
more  popular  as  the  mind  became  more  comprehensive 
in  its  grasp,  and  more  profound  in  its  investigation. 
Hence  the  Puritans,  who  originally  were  Catholics,  and 
merely  advocated  a  simpler  form  of  worship;  the 
Presbyterians  and  the  Independents,  who  at  first  ques- 
tioned only  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope,  yet  driven 
from  those  whom  they  had  venerated  by  the  hate  which 
persecution  engenders,  and  disenthralled  from  the 
shackles  with  which  custom  and  superstition  enslaves 
the  mind,  began  fearlessly  and  candidly  to  investigate 
the  fundamental  principles  of  faith  and  practice,  and 
to  elaborate  theological  creeds  totally  different  from 
those  of  Catholicism,  and  vastly  superior  to  them. 
While  the  people  were  rapidly  advancing  in  liberal 
views  of  religion  and  government,  the  heir  of  the  throne 
was  too  much  absorbed  in  magnifying  his  visionary 
prerogatives  to  share  in  the  progress  of  the  age,  or 
to  study  the  character  of  the  people  over  whom  he  was 
destined  to  reign.  When  in  1625  he  ascended  tho 
English  throne,  under  the  title  of  Charles  I.,  the  new 
order  of  popular  sentiment  had  become  an  impetuous 
torrent.     Common   sagacity  might  have '  perceived  the 


IN   ENGLAND.  243 

inevitable  destruction  that  would  await  him  if  he  should 
attempt  to  stem  the  popular  tide  of  thought ;  and  pru- 
dence would  have  dictated  a  practicable  compromise  of 
differences  rather  than  the  certain  alternative  of  civil 
war.  But  Archbishop  Laud,  a  Catholic  under  the  dis- 
guise of  Protestantism,  and  who  was  the  medium  of  the 
pope's  influence,  exercised  a  despotism  over  the  king's 
mind  too  absolute  to  allow  his  reason  to  instruct,  or  his 
conscience  to  admonish  him.  The  religious  views  and 
secret  designs  of  this  professed  Protestant  bishop  can- 
not be  misunderstood.  He  maintained  that  the  papal 
authority  had  always  been  visible  in  the  realm.  He 
furnished  the  king  with  a  significant  list  of  the  names 
of  all  his  Catholic  and  Protestant  subjects.  He  was 
also  the  principal  actor  in  the  Star  Chamber,  and  Court 
of  High  Co: ""mission.  So  well  was  the  pope  satisfied 
with  the  orthodoxy  of  this  sacerdotal  miscreant  that  he 
sent  him  a  cardinal's  hat,  which  he  declined  for  the  am- 
biguous reason  that  the  "  Church  of  Rome  was  no  other 
than  it  was!"  The  king,  controlled  and  ill-advised  by 
such  a  counsellor,  blinded  by  his  own  bigotry,  and  elated 
with  self-conceit,  was  led  to  scorn  the  rising  spirit  of 
the  nation,  and  to  adopt  measures  for  its  suppression. 
But  parliament  with  prudent  foresight,  and  patriotic 
boldness,  taught  him  that  the  Commons  were  the  con- 
stitutional dispensers  and  guardians  of  the  public  trea- 
sury. He  next  resolved  to  oblige  Scotland  to  conform 
to  the  ritual  prescribed  by  the  Church  of  England ; 
and  as  parliament  had  refused  to  allow  him  the  use  of 
the  public  funds  for  that  and  other  purposes,  he  at- 
tempted to  raise  means  for  their  accomplishment  by 
unconstitutional  methods.     By  this  impolitic  course  he 


244  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

aroused  a  lion  from  its  den,  with  whose  strength  and 
fury  he  could  not  well  cope.  The  Scotch  formed  a 
league  of  Covenanters,  composed  of  all  classes  and  fac- 
tions, for  the  defence  of  their  religious  liberty  ;  and  as 
the  king  viewed  their  enthusiastic  and  formidable  array, 
and  compared  it  with  the  suspicious  material  of  his  own 
army,  he  prudently  concluded  terms  of  pacification. 

Having  frequently  called  the  Commons  together  in 
parliament,  and  finding  them  more  disposed  to  dictate 
than  to  obey,  and  inflexible  in  their  refusal  to  furnish  him 
with  the  pecuniary  aid  necessary  to  the  accomplishment 
of  his  design,  he  finally  determined  to  rule  without  a 
parliament,  and  by  a  liberal  construction  of  his  prerog- 
atives to  arrogate  monarchial  power.  An  object  so 
consistent  with  the  dogmas  of  Catholicism,  and  so  flat- 
tering to  the  vanity  of  the  Episcopal  royp'dsts,  equally 
betrayed  them  into  acquiescence.  To  aid  the  king  in 
his  despotic  design  the  royalists  extolled  his  preroga- 
tives, asserted  their  divine  origin,  declared  it  impious 
to  prescribe  any  limits  to  them,  and  inculcated  passive 
obedience  as  a  Christian  virtue  and  imperative  duty. 
The  terror  of  the  Star  Chamber,  and  of  the  Court  of 
High  Commission,  was  also  called  into  requisition.  But 
neither  the  eloquent  encomiums  lavished  on  the  king's 
prerogative,  nor  the  atrocities  of  the  Star  Chamber, 
nor  the  severity  of  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  nor 
a  rebellion  excited  in  Ireland  against  parliament,  nor 
the  arms  of  the  royal  troops,  produced  anything  for  the 
king's  prerogatives  but  disgrace  and  ridicule. 

Breading  the  liberalism  and  inflexibility  of  the  Com- 
mons, and  the  uncompromising  hostility  against  his 
person  and  measures  which  his  persecution  of  non-con- 


MONAECHY.  245 

formists  had  excited  in   the  majority  of  them,  yet  he 
was  obliged,  by  the  critical  state  of  public  affairs,  to 
call  them  together.     This  parliament  proved  the  mem- 
orable "long  parliament."     As  might  have  been   ex- 
pected, its  embittered  and  exasperated  members  opened 
the  session  with  torrents  of  scorn  and  contempt  poured 
on  the  king  and  his  prerogatives.     They  also  adopted 
every  expedient  to   inflame  the  public  mind,  and  to 
make  it  accessory  to  their  design  of  reducing  the  king 
to  unresisting  helplessness.     They  denounced  the  Epis- 
copalians, and  other  advocates  of  the  king's  preroga- 
tives, in  whom  Catholicism   and   monarchy   had   dis- 
guised themselves  under  the  semblance  of  Protestant- 
ism.    They  attempted  to  exclude  the  bishops  from  the 
House  of  Lords.     They  so  intimidated  the  royalists  of 
the  House  that  many  of  them  absented  themselves  from 
their  seats.     They  restricted   the  king's  prerogatives, 
abolished  the  Star   Chamber,   and  the  Court  of  High 
Commission,  passed  acts  against  superstitious  practices, 
executed  Laud  and  Stafford,  and  as  the  king  had  set  the 
dangerous  precedent  of  liberal  construction  of  law  and 
prerogatives,    they    availed    themselves    of   the    same 
means  to  justify  their  measures.     The  impetuous  tor- 
nado of  their  zeal  and  wrath  swept  away  all  the  king's 
elaborate   schemes   for  the   acquisition    of    monarchial 
power,  and  poured  upon  his  unprotected  head  a  pitiless 
storm  of  wrath.     Condemned  to  be  the  helpless  specta- 
tor of  the  destruction  of  his  hopes  of  absolute  power, 
which  art,  tyranny,  and  usurpation  had  enabled  him  to 
build,  he  became  wild  with  despair  and  rage,  and,  in  a 
desperate  attempt  to  retrieve  his  fortune  by  asserting  in 
his  extremity  his  empty  prerogatives,  he  brought  his 
21* 


246  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

precarious  condition  to  an  unfortunate  close.  Entering 
the  House  of  Commons,  he  personally  attempted  to  ar- 
rest some  of  its  members.  The  House,  consequently, 
broke  up  in  disorder  ;  the  king  saw  his  error,  but  too 
late ;  he  fled  from  his  capitol  in  terror  ;  two  armies 
arose ;  the  one  under  the  king,  the  other  under  parlia- 
ment: after  several  bloody  battles,  the  king  lost  his 
crown,  and  finally  his  life. 

Parliament  now  resolved  to  rule  without  a  king  as 
the  king  had  resolved  to  rule  without  a  parliament. 
The  spirit  of  despotism  under  the  form  of  freedom,  still, 
however,  predominated  in  the  national  councils.  Crom- 
well, a  professed  republican,  but  a  secret  monarchist ;  as 
intolerant  as  he  was  religious,  and  crafty  as  he  was  am- 
bitious ;  who,  as  interest  instigated,  favored  or  perse- 
cuted Catholics,  Protestants,  Puritans,  and  Republicans, 
was  this  despotic  spirit  which  desecrated  the  form  of 
Freedom,  and  which  induced  him  while  he  governed 
England  as  a  protector,  to  seek  to  govern  her  as  a  king, 
and  to  plot  in  secret  to  reestablish  her  throne.  After 
the  termination  of  his  eventful  career,  and  the  resigna- 
tion of  his  appointed  successor,  Charles  II.,  son  of  James 
I.,  in  1660  was  crowned  King  of  England. 

Illiberal  in  mind,  intolerant  in  disposition,  defective 
in  sensibility,  and  destitute  of  honor  and  generosity,  he 
was  base  as  a  man,  dishonorable  as  a  prince,  and  a  pli- 
able instrument  of  the  papal  intrigues.  A  hypocrite 
from  his  birth,  he  was  capable  of  assuming  any  guise ; 
and  supremely  selfish,  he  tolerated  vice  and  corruption 
whenever  it  administered  to  his  interests.  By  the  licen- 
tiousness of  his  court  he  degraded  the  moral  standing 
of  the  British  nation  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  and  of 


IN   ENGLAND.  247 

history,  and  with  a  despotic  and  unprincipled  set  of 
measures,  arrogated  power  in  defiance  of  constitutional 
obstructions,  and  reduced  the  people  to  slavery  in  con- 
tempt of  their  hereditary  valor  and  independence,  and 
the  safeguards  with  which  they  had  protected  their 
liberty. 

The  pathway  to  his  elevation  to  the  throne  having 
been  prepared  by  General  Monk,  he  was  received  with 
frantic  acclamations  by  conflicting  civil  and  religious 
sects,  and  without  a  struggle  succeeded  to  those  danger- 
cur  prerogatives  which  had  cost  the  nation  so  much 
blood  and  treasure.  The  admonition  of  past  occurren- 
ces had  induced  him  to  disguise  under  the  cloak  of  a 
pacific  and  accommodating  policy,  his  secret  and  ulterior 
designs.  But  the  specious  mask  fell  from  his  brow 
when  he  passed  the  intolerent  act  of  non-conformity,  by 
which  the  Presbyterians  were  peremptorily  driven  from 
their  livings. 

Profligacy,  which  enfeebles  the  intellectual  powers, 
and  destroys  the  foundation  of  public  respect,  has  ever 
been  encouraged  in  princes  or  people  by  the  artifice  of 
those  whose  ambition  has  plotted  to  make  them  subser- 
vient to  their  interest,  or  dependent  on  their  power. 
The  disgracefulness  of  this  policy  has  never  been  too 
abhorrent  to  the  Roman  See  to  cause  it  to  forego  the 
advantages  of  its  adoption.  The  profligate  character 
of  Charles  II.,  and  the  dissolute  manners  which  he  in- 
troduced into  his  court,  ably  aided  the  papal  machin- 
ery in  alienating  from  him  the  respect  and  affection  of 
his  subjects,  and  in  making  him  more  dependent  on  the 
favor  of  the  pope.  His  extravagance  involved  him 
eventually  in   such  pecuniary  embarrassments  that  he 


248  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

became  a  pensioner  on  Louis,  king  of  France ;  and  in 
consequence  became  doubly  ironed  with  the  papal 
shackles — the  king  of  France  forming  one  set  of  man- 
acles, the  priests  of  England  another — and  both  were 
equally  bound  to  the  interests  of  the  papal  monarchy. 
That  every  thought  and  action  might  be  discovered  in 
its  incipiency,  he  was  furnished  wdth  a  French  lady  to 
amuse  him  in  his  retirement  This  accomplished  but 
abandoned  female  obtained  such  ascendency  over  his 
mind,  that  she  induced  him  to  make  her  a  duchess. 
Thus  watched,  debased  and  controlled,  he  became  the 
unconscious  tool  of  the  designs  of  others,  and  was  led 
to  alarm  the  public  mind  by  forming  a  disgraceful  cabal, 
by  which  to  concert  measures  for  making  himself  inde- 
pendent of  parliament. 

To  add  to  the  public  aissatisfaction  the  Duke  of 
York,  the  heir  presumptive  to  the  throne,  openly  es- 
poused the  cause  of  Catholicism.  Strong  measures 
were  consequently  adopted  to  remove  him  from  his  post, 
as  admiral  of  the  navy,  and  eventually  to  exclude  him 
from  the  throne.  The  violent  factions,  and  fierce  crim- 
inations and  recriminations  to  which  these  measures 
gave  rise  kept  the  people  in  a  state  of  feverish  excite- 
ment. In  the  midst  of  these  wild  alarms  a  pretended 
popish  plot  was  reported  to  have  been  discovered,  which 
received  universal  credence.  The  design  of  this  plot 
was  said  to  be  to  destroy  parliament  and  assassinate  the 
king.  A  secret  Catholic  faction  was  supposed  to  exist 
in  the  nation,  the  object  of  which  was  to  restore  the 
authority  of  the  pope  ;  and  circumstances  lending  credi- 
bility to  the  supposition,  the  most  intense  excitement 
seized  the  public  mind.     Parliament  was  terrific  in  its 


IN   ENGLAND.  249 

denunciations,  and  the  people  clamorous  for  vengeance. 
Lords  were  arrested,  priests  hung,  the  Duke  of  York 
fled  from  the  country  in  terror,  the  Earl  of  Stafford 
was  beheaded,  and  the  king,  filled  with  consternation, 
yielded  to  the  popular  demand  the  Habeas  Corpus  act, 
to  avert  the  storm  that  was  muttering  destruction  over 
his  head.  Fortified  with  this  new  safeguard  to  public  free- 
dom, the  people  became  tranquil  once  more  ;  but  the  king 
perceiving  the  formidable  obstacle  which  parliament 
obtruded  in  the  way  of  his  acquisition  of  despotic 
power,  resolved  to  get  rid  of  it  by  making  it  the  instru- 
ment of  its  own  destruction.  After  having  assem- 
bled it  severel  times  for  this  purpose,  and  finding 
it  inflexibly  opposed  to  his  measures,  he  determined 
to  dispense  with  it  altogether,  and  to  substitute 
his  prerogatives  in  the  place  of  its  authority.  In  order 
to  reduce  the  corporations  to  an  absolute  depend- 
ence on  his  will,  he  employed  with  as  much  base- 
ness as  tyranny,  intimidations  to  induce  them  to  sur- 
render their  charters,  so  that  they  might  be  remodelled 
in  accordance  with  the  claims  of  the  absolute  power  of 
his  prerogatives.  In  order  to  deplete  the  ranks  of  non- 
Catholics,  he  had  recourse  to  gross  and  unfounded 
charges  of  plots  and  conspiracies.  Lord  Shaftsbury, 
the  author  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  act,  was  arrested,  im- 
prisoned in  the  Tower  and  tried  for  high  treason ;  but 
acquitted.  Dungeons  were  overcrowded  with  subjects 
against  whom  no  allegation  laid,  except  that  of  love  of 
liberty  and  opposition  to  tyranny.  But  while  he  was 
wading  through  the  innocent  blood  of  his  subjects  to  a 
crown  of  unlimited  monarchy,  some  desperate  spirits 
were  secretly  concocting  a  plot  to  arrest  his  atrocious 


250  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

career  by  the  deplorable  means  of  the  assassin's  dag- 
ger. This  unsuccessful  conspiracy,  known  as  the  Hhy- 
house  plot,  which  could  not  escape  the  omniscient  eye 
of  the  Catholic  machinery,  was,  of  course,  discovered 
before  it  had  matured  its  plans,  and  only  gave  the  king 
a  plausible  pretence  for  gratifying  his  malignancy 
against  the  ablest  advocates  of  constitutional  liberty. 
William  Russell,  who  had  with  undaunted  firmness 
maintained  the  fundamental  principle  of  free  govern- 
ment, was  the  first  victim  through  this  unfortunate  af- 
fair, to  the  eagerness  of  the  king's  bloodthirsty  revenge. 
Foredoomed,  he  was  tried  by  a  packed  jury,  and  con- 
demned against  conclusive  proof  of  his  innocence. 
Alerngon  Sidney,  another  apostle  of  liberty,  was  un- 
justly charged  with  high  treason.  The  law  requiring 
two  witnesses  to  substantiate  allegations  of  this  nature, 
and  but  one  having  appeared,  and  he  as  unreliable  as  he 
was  promptly  received,  the  infamous  Jeffrey  summoned 
into  court  a  manuscript  which  had  been  found  in  the 
closet  of  the  defend ent.  In  this  manuscript  the  author 
expressed  a  preference  for  a  free  to  an  arbitrary  gov- 
ernment. The  judge  deciding  that  the  document 
was  a  competent  witness  in  his  court,  (although  he  did 
not  sv;ear  it),  and  that  it  supplied  the  want  of  the  other 
witness  required  by  the  law  of  treason,  proceeded  to 
pass  sentence  of  death  on  the  accused. 

By  means  of  similar  unwarrantable  proceedings,  and 
the  co-operation  of  the  papal  machinery,  the  king  suc- 
ceeded in  dragooning  Scotland  into  conformity,  in  sup- 
pressing the  bold  Covenanters,  and  in  amassing  almost 
sufiicient  power  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  purpose. 
After  he  had,  in  defiance  of  parliament  and  the  laws, 


IN   ENGLAND.  251 

and  by  means  of  tyrannical  measures  and  execrable 
usurpations,  rendered  himself  as  absolute  in  power  as 
any  despot  in  Europe,  death  interposed  in  the  midst  of 
his  success,  and  removed  him  from  a  throne  which  he 
had  disgraced,  and  a  people  whom  he  had  oppressed. 
Had  his  conduct  during  his  life  left  a  doubt  of  his  genuine 
Catholicism,  and  hypocritical  profession  of  Protestant- 
ism, the  last  moments  of  his  existence  were  sufficient  to 
dispel  them.  Just  before  his  death  he  received  the 
sacrament  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  church, 
and  having  no  further  need  of  deception,  openly  pro- 
fessed himself  a  Catholic. 

James  II.,  brother  of  Charles  II.,  in  1685  succeeded 
to  the  throne  of  England  and  Scotland.  Educated 
like  his  brother,  he  had  imbibed  similar  religious  and 
political  sentiments.  While  Duke  of  York  he  at  first 
secretly,  but  afterwards  openly,  professed  the  Catholic 
faith.  When,  in  the  course  of  intrigue  and  conflict,  the 
royal  party  had  gained  the  ascendency  in  Scotland,  he 
retired  thither ;  and  manifested  his  barbarous  ferocity 
by  personally  assisting  at  the  torturing  of  the  Cove- 
nanters. The  rapid  strides  which  his  brother  had  made 
towards  the  acquisition  of  absolute  power,  and  the  par- 
alyzing dread  which  cruelty  and  tyranny  had  cast  over 
the  public  mind,  enabled  James  II.  to  succeed  to  the 
British  throne  without  opposition.  From  the  hour  he 
became  invested  with  the  royal  dignity,  he  adopted 
every  expedient  that  craft  could  devise  to  convert  his 
royal  prerogatives  into  monarchial  authority,  and  to  se- 
cure the  restoration  of  Catholicism  as  the  religion  of 
the  kingdom.  As  virtue  scorns  to  be  the  tool  of  vice, 
and  as  sycophants  are  the  most  pliable  instruments  of 


252  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

despotism,  he  adopted  the  policy  of  investing  the  most 
unscrupulous  with  official  authority.  Supreme  among 
his  base  and  cringing  creatures  stood  Judge  Jeffrey. 
The  chief  engineer  of  the  papal  machinery — the  con- 
trolling spirit  of  the  king  and  his  councils;  insolent, 
imperious,  arbitrary  and  oppressive,  this  man  was  ready 
for  any  work  that  furnished  sufficient  blood  and  plun- 
der. By  barbarous  and  inhuman  acts,  and  by  the  arbi- 
trary execution  of  innocent  subjects,  this  monster  in 
human  form  succeeded  in  casting  a  deep  gloom  over  tho 
public  mind,  and  in  annihilating  all  apparent  opposi- 
tion to  the  tyrannical  proceedure  of  the  king.  Amid 
the  death-like  silence  which  hung  on  the  lips  of  the 
people  the  king  threw  off  his  disguise,  entered  into  ne- 
gotiation with  the  pope  for  the  reception  of  England 
into  the  papal  church,  celebrated  mass  invested  with 
the  royal  paraphernalia,  assumed  the  power  of  parlia- 
ment, nullified  all  test  oaths,  filled  the  councils  and 
army  with  Catholics,  governed  Scotland  and  Ireland 
by  his  creatures,  organized  ecclesiastical  tribunals  to 
try  such  clergy  as  were  suspected  of  holding  liberal 
sentiments,  committed  bishops  to  the  Tower  for  having 
remonstrated  against  the  propriety  of  reading  a  docu- 
ment concerning  a  popish  indulgence  which  he  had 
commanded  to  be  read  in  all  the  churches,  and  adopted 
every  possible  method  to  subvert  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  and  to  bind  on  his  subjects  the  shackles  of  papal 
despotism.  Towards  the  final  consummation  of  his 
calamitous  design  he  appeared  to  be  making  rapid 
strides ;  but,  though  the  papal  machinery  was  formid- 
able, yet  there  was  another  power  more  formidable  still ; 
as  wily  and  as  secret:  which  was  auietly  maturing  its 


IN   ENGLAND.  253 

strength  for  the  hour  of  retribution.  The  oppressive 
measures  of  the  king  and  the  failure  of  every  attempt 
at  compromise  and  conciliation,  had  created  a  stern 
opposition  in  the  mind  of  the  people,  of  the  gentry,  and 
of  some  lords.  Silent  but  powerful,  though  this  opposi- 
tion seemed  to  slumber,  yet  it  was  but  calmly  waiting  the 
destined  hour,  when  it  would  arise  and  annihilate  dynas- 
ties and  prerogatives.  "While  the  king,  deceived  by  the 
treacherous  calm,  was  trampling  in  insolent  contempt 
on  the  people's  rights ;  while  sycophantic  priests  were 
chaunting  his  song  of  triumph  ;  and  while  the  pope 
was  congratulating  him  on  his  success,  and  stretching 
forth  his  hand  to  receive  the  kingdom,  William  of 
Orange  suddenly  appeared  on  the  coast  of  England 
with  a  formidable  navy  and  army,  and,  as  with  the 
stroke  of  an  enchanter's  wand,  changed  the  calm  and 
brilliant  prospects  of  the  king  into  storms  and  sights  of 
horror,  and  the  peans  of  his  sycophants  into  howling 
and  lamentations.  Terrified  at  the  sight,  the  king  re- 
pealed his  unpopular  acts,  and  proffered  to  his  subjects 
all  the  rights  which  they  had  in  vain  plead  for  before. 
Conscious  of  their  strength,  and  irreconcilable  in  the  me- 
mory of  their  wrongs,  they  rejected  with  scorn  and  indig- 
nation all  his  generous  overtures.  As  he  had  ruled  as  a 
tyrant,  he  now  absconded  as  a  coward.  The  throne 
was  declared  abdicated,  and  William  and  Mary  pro- 
claimed sovereigns  of  England  and  Scotland.  After 
some  fruitless  attempts  to  regain  his  kingdom,  James 
II.  turned  Jesuist,  and  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life  in  doing  penance. 

Edward,   the  Pretender,  grandson  of  James  I.,  edu- 
cated at  Rome,  was  another  instrument  which  the  pope 
22 


254  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES. 

adopted  to  establish  his  authority  over  the  crown  of 
England.     This  treasonable  plot  was  unanimously  sup- 
ported by  the  tory  party.     This  faction  had  ever  been 
a  prominent  branch  of   the  papal  machinery.     Under 
the  disguise  of  Protestantism,  in  1680,  the  tories  made 
vigorous  efforts  for  the  subjugation  of  England  to  the 
papal  dominion.     They  were  the  most  strenuous  sup- 
porters of  Charles  II.     In  every  scheme  of  oppression 
and  violence-^in  the  persecution  of  dissenters,  in  the 
banishment  of  patriots,  in  the  murder  of  the  advocates 
of  popular  freedom — in  every  project  of  the  king  to 
grasp  monarchial  power,  in  the  abrogation  of  the  free 
charters,  in  the  assumption  of  despotic  prerogatives,  in 
the  efforts  to  abolish  parliament,  they  were  the  bold  and 
unequivocal  supporters.      It  was,  therefore,  consistent 
with  their  historic  tradition  that  they  should  welcome 
as  allies  of  the  pope  the  invasion  of  Edward,  and  be 
ready  to  repeat   their  former  atrocities  in  his  cause. 
England's  vigilance,  however,  defeated  Edward's  first 
attempt,  in  1742,  but  he  made  another  in  1745  which 
was  more  successful.   Landing  secretly  in  Scotland  with 
but  seven  trusty  officers,  yet  such  was  the  efficiency  of 
the  papal  machinery,  that  it  soon  enabled  him  to  com- 
mand an  army  which  made  England  tremble.     But  the 
contest  was  short  and  decisive.     Although  he  gained 
some  important  advantages,  yet  the  signal  victory  over 
his  forces  at  Culloden,  in  1746,  effectually  checked  his 
career.     Despairing  of  success,  he  fled  to  France,  w^here, 
through  the  intercession  of  the  king's  mistress,  he  re- 
ceived a  pension.     He  finally  returned  to  Rome,  where 
■he   died  of  diseases  engendered   by  habits   of  intem- 
perance. 


IN   ENGLAND.  255 

We  have  now  alluded,  in  this  chapter  to  some  of 
those  popish  intermeddlings  in  the  political  concerns  of 
England,  so  grossly  in  violation  of  international  law, 
and  which  have  been  so  prolific  of  treason,  of  popular 
insurrection,  of  civil  war,  and  of  all  that  can  empover- 
ish  a  nation  and  impede  its  progress  ;  but  we  have  men- 
tioned but  few  of  them.  The  limits  we  have  prescribed 
to  this  work  will  not  allow  us  to  trace  the  wily  and 
deadly  serpent  of  papal  intrigue  in  all  its  secret  wind- 
ings, nor  dwell  upon  the  important  admonitory  les- 
sons its  history  furnishes  to  patriots,  to  rulers,  and  to 
mankind  :  these  we  must  leave  to  the  reflection  of  the 
reader. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTEIGUES   IN 
FRANCE. 

Papal  Intrigues  in  France  during  the  Reign  of  Clovis — of 
Childeric  III. — of  Pepin — of  Charlemagne — of  Sugh 
Capet— of  Philip  IV.— of  Louis  XII— of  Francis 
I— of  Francis  II— of  Charles  IX.— of  Henry  IV.— - 
of  Louis  XIII. — of  Louis  XIV. 

The  subtile  poison  of  Catholicism  was  instilled  into  the 
French  government  under  the  reign  of  Clovis,  the 
Great,  who  succeeded  his  father  Childeric,  King  of  the 
Franks,  in  481.  Aspiring  to  extend  the  territory  of  his 
kingdom,  which  was  confined  within  the  sea  and  the 
Scheldt,  he  made  war  upon  Syagrius,  the  Eoman  gov- 
ernor at  Soissons ;  captured  and  put  him  to  death ; 
subjugated  Paris,  and  the  cities  of  Belgia  Secunda  ;  and 
to  obtain  assistance  in  conquering  the  AUemanni ;  es- 
poused Clotilda,  neice  of  Gundebald,  King  of  Burgundy. 
Clotilda,  who  had  been  educated  by  the  Catholic  priests, 
became  in  their  hands  an  instrument  for  the  conver- 
sion of  her  royal  husband.  Conceiving  that  the  God 
and  religion  of  Catholicism  were  better  able  to  aid 
him  in  completing  his  intended  conquests  than  were 
the  God  and  religious  contrivances  of  Paganism,  Clovis 
submitted  to  be  baptized  by  St.  Remigius,  and  anointed 
with  some  holy  oil  which  the  bishop  affirmed  had  been 
brought  by  a  dove  from  heaven.     The  crimes  and  devo- 


IN    FRANCE.  257 

tion  of  the  king,  in  the  cause  of  the  church,  were  re- 
warded with  numberless  miracles  and  instances  of  di- 
vine interposition.  A  white  hart  of  singular  statue  and 
brilliancy  became  the  conductor  of  his  army  through 
secret  passes,  a  dazzling  meteor  blazed  forth  as  his 
forces  approached  the  cathedral  at  Poitiers,  and  the 
walls  of  Angouleme  fell  down  at  the  blast  of  his  war- 
like bugle.  Imbibing  the  orthodoxy  of  the  bishops, 
he  imbibed  also  their  hatred  to  the  heretics.  "  It  grieves 
me,"  said  he  to  a  company  of  princes  and  warriors  as- 
sembled at  Paris,  "  to  see  the  Arians  still  possess  the 
fairest  portions  of  Gaul.  Let  us  march  against  them 
with  the  aid  of  God  ;  and,  having  vanquished  the  here-, 
tics  we  will  possess  and  divide  their  fertile  provinces." 
His  savage  piety  led  him  to  declare  that  had  he  been  at 
the  trial  of  Christ  he  would  have  prevented  his  cruci- 
fixion. He  summoned  and  dismissed  a  council  of  Gaulic 
bishops  ;  and  then  deliberately  assassinated  all  the 
princes  belonging  to  his  family.  After  having  removed, 
by  violence  or  treachery,  the  princes  of  the  different 
Prankish  tribes,  incorporated  their  government  into  his 
own,  stained  the  soil  with  the  blood  of  its  proprietors 
and  defenders,  bowed  in  abject  reverence  before  the 
clergy,  and  committed  the  most  fiendish  and  heartrend- 
ing atrocities,  the  pope  of  Rome,  in  consideration  of  his 
piety  and  usefulness,  bestowed  upon  him  the  title 
of  "  The  most  Christian  King  and  Eldest  Son  of  the 
Church." 

While  the  pope  professed  to  be  the  humble  successor 

of  St.  Peter,  the  fisherman,  he  was  secretly  laboring  to 

become  the  successor  of  the  Caesars,  the  masters  of  the 

world.     With  this  end  in  view  he  had  scattered   his 

22* 


258  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

monks  througliout  Europe  to  preach  the  doctrines  of 
humility,  of  passive  obedience,  of  reverence  for  the 
clergy,  and  of  absolute  submission  to  himself.  The 
support  which  these  doctrines  gave  to  despotism  ren- 
dered them  acceptable  to  kings,  and  the  conveniency 
with  which  they  supplied  the  want  of  morality  made 
them  popular  with  the  multitude.  The  arts  and  mir- 
acles of  the  holy  brotherhood  excited  the  wonder,  and 
commanded  the  reverence  of  the  crowd  ;  and  their  tact 
and  sycophancy  enabled  them  to  become  the  com- 
panions of  kings,  the  instructors  of  princes,  the  con- 
fessors of  all  classes,  and  the  spies  upon  the  most  secret 
recesses  of  their  thoughts.  The  avaricious  character  of 
their  religious  principles  enabled  them  to  accept  with- 
out scruple  the  spoils  of  plundering  expeditions,  and  to 
augment  the  stores  of  their  wealth  by  artful  tricks  and 
pious  frauds.  The  success  of  their  missionary  rapacity 
enabled  them  to  build  spacious  convents,  sufficiently 
sumptuous  for  the  accommodation  of  pious  kings  who 
wished  to  abdicate  their  thrones.  The  dungeons  of 
these  sanctuaries  sometimes  contained  a  monarch,  an 
heir  to  a  throne,  or  some  distinguished  personage  whom 
usurpation,  jealousy,  ambition  or  tyranny  had  there 
confined  ;  and  sometimes  their  halls  afforded  a  hospit- 
able asylum  for  the  sick,  the  indigent,  or  the  refugee 
from  oppression. 

The  popes  having,  with  their  usual  skill  and  pru- 
dence, established  the  various  parts  of  their  political 
machinery  in  different  sections  of  Europe,  and  sancti- 
fied them  in  the  eyes  of  princes  and  people,  eagerly 
watched  every  opportunity  to  set  them  in  motion  in  fa- 
vor of  their  cherished  design.     The  Saracens^  however. 


IN   FRANCE.  259 

entered  Europe,  and  threatened  to  subjugate  it  to  the 
authority  of  the  religion  of  Mahomet ;  but  the  hammer 
of  Charles  Martel,  Mayor  of  France,  which  alone  crushed 
375,000  of  the  invaders,  checked  the  career  of  their  tri- 
umphant arms.  But  as  the  warrior  had  applied  the 
riches  of  the  church  to  the  necessities  of  the  state  and 
the  relief  of  his  soldiers,  a  synod  of  Catholic  bishops 
declared  that  the  man  who  had  saved  the  Catholic 
church  from  extinction,  was  doomed  to  the  flames  of 
hell  on  account  of  his  sacrilege.  The  inspired  synod, 
in  arriving  at  this  orthodox  conclusion  was  assisted  by 
the  reported  facts,  that  a  saint  while  dreaming  had  seen 
the  soul  of  the  savior  of  Europe,  and  of  Christianity, 
burning  in  hell,  and  that  upon  opening  his  coffin  a 
strong  odor  of  fire  and  brimstone  had  been  perceived. 
The  pope  entertained  a  better  opinion  of  his  son  Carlo- 
man,  whose  superstition  strikingly  resembled  the  mal- 
ady of  insanity.  This  Mayor  of  France,  while  exercis- 
ing the  regal  authority  of  his  office,  was  induced  by  his 
spiritual  advisers  to  resign  his  dignity ;  to  consecrate 
the  remainder  of  his  life  to  God  by  shutting  "himself  up 
in  a  convent ;  and  to  give  all  his  private  possessions 
and  valuables  to  the  church.  The  design  which 
prompted  this  intrigue  seems  to  have  been,  to  prepar 
the  way  for  the  usurpation  of  the  crown  of  the  Franks, 
by  Pepin,  the  Short.  The  pope  well  knew  Pepin  was 
ambitious  of  the  diadem,  and  had  only  been  deterred 
from  supplanting  Childeric  III.,  the  King  of  France, 
— who  was  but  a  youth — by  fear  of  Carloman.  This  ob- 
stacle being  removed  by  the  retirement  of  the  devout 
warrior,  Pepin  consulted  Pope  Zachary  about  his  inten- 
tions, who  replied:  "He  only  ought  to  be  king  who 


:260  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

•exercised  the  royal  power."  Encouraged  by  this  papal 
sanction  of  prospective  treason  and  usurpation,  lie  had 
the  office  of  Ilaia  du  Palais  abolished,  himself  pro- 
.  claimed  King  of  France,  and  Childeric  imprisoned  in  a 
monastic  dungeon,  in  which  he  was  obliged  to  pass  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 

The  interests  of  the  pope  and  Pepin„  by  these  art- 
ful machinations,  became  deeply  interwoven.  The  crit- 
ical state  of  the  Holy  See  soon  developed  the  sagacity 
and  good  policy  of  the  pope.  The  Lombards  entered 
Italy,  conquered  the  Exarchate,  and  threatened  the  re- 
duction of  Rome.  Oppressed  with  these  misfortunes, 
the  holy  father  appeared  in  the  camp  of  Pepin,  dressed 
in  mourning  and  covered  with  ashes,  soliciting  the  as- 
sistance of  his  arms  in  the  defence  of  the  church,  and  of 
the  Consulate  government  of  Rome.  But  Pepin  was 
..more  ready  to  speculate  on  the  misfortunes  of  the  pope 
.than  to  assist  him  in  his  distress.  The  cruelties  which 
stained  the  usurper's  crown  made  him  apprehensive 
of  insecurity.  He  therefore  signified  to  the  supplicant 
a  willingness  to  comply  with  his  wishes,  if  he  would 
officially  sanction  all  the  acts  of  usurpation  of  which  he 
had  been  guilty,  crown  his  two  sons,  and  anoint  them 
with  the  holy  oil  which  the  dove  had  brought  from 
heaven.  Terms  being  satisfactorily  arranged  between 
the  two  parties,  Pepin  drew  his  sword  and  reconquered 
the  greater  part  of  Italy. 

The  tricks,  sophistry,  and  eloquence  of  the  monks 
having  failed  to  convert  the  Saxons  to  the  church,  the 
pope  was  disposed  to  try  the  efficacy  of  the  sword. 
Charlemagne,  Pepin's  son,  having  succeeded  to  the 
.Frankish  throne,  and  papal  influence  having  gained  the 


::  IN   FRANCE.  261 

ascendency  in  his  councils,  lie  was  without  difficulty 
tempted  to  unfurl  his  banner  in  the  cause  of  the  church. 
But  the  Saxons  were  courageous  warriors,  full  of  the 
love  of  independence  and  of  liberty  ;  and  when  the  al- 
ternative of  extinction  or  Catholicism  was  presented  to 
their  choice,  their  proud  spirit  gave  a  desperate  valor 
to  their  arms,  in  the  maintenance  of  their  rights  of 
existence  and  of  religious  liberty.  Against  superior 
numbers,  they  defended  the  integrity  of  their  empire 
for  thirty-three  years  ;  and  had  not  their  chief  advised 
to  the  contrary,  would  rather  have  suffered  extermina- 
tion than  to  have  submitted  to  a  religion  baptized  in 
blood,  founded  upon  fraud  and  treachery,  and  forced 
upon  their  acceptance  against  their  reason  and  con- 
science, and  by  a  sword  reeking  with  the  blood  of  their 
fellow  countrymen.  The  arms  of  Charlemagne,  and 
the  religion  and  policy  of  the  pope  triumphed ;  but 
not  until  the  land  was  depopulated,  the  country  con- 
verted into  a  desert,  and  the  cost  of  subjugation  out- 
balanced the  value  of  the  victory. 

The  competition  between  aspiring  candidates  for  the 
opulent  bishopric  of  Rome  had  often  been  productive 
of  turmoil  and  bloodshed.  The  favorite  and  intended 
successor  of  Adrian  I.  having  been  disappointed  by  the- 
unexpected  election  of  Leo  III.,  his  exasperated  adher- 
ents attacked  the  sacred  procession  on  the  occasion,  as- 
saulted the  chosen  vicar  of  Christ,  and,  as  it  is  alleged, 
cut  out  his  tongue,  dug  out  his  eyes,  and  left  him  dead 
on  the  ground.  But  a  miracle,  it  is  averred,  inter- 
posed in  his  behalf;  restored  his  life,  eyes  and  tongue; 
and  enabled  him  to  escape  a  repetition  of  the  outrage 
by   gaining    the    invisible    precincts   of  the   Vatican. 


262  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

After  having  received  this  assistance  from  heaven  he 
inv.oked  the  temporal  aid  of  the  Duke  of  Spoleto,  and 
of  the  friendly  interposition  of  Charlemagne  in  his 
favor.  By  the  influence  of  these  secular  princes  he 
was  enabled  to  ascend  the  sacerdotal  throne,  and  to  ex- 
ercise his  spiritual  authority  in  banishing  his  competi- 
tors and  their  adherents. 

On  a  visit  of  Charlemagne  to  Rome,  after  these  events, 
the  pope  abruptly  crowned  him  with  a  diadem,  invested 
him  with  the  regalia  of  the  Caesars,  anointed  him  with 
the  holy  oil  which  the  dove  had  conveyed  from  Para- 
adise,  and  pronounced  him  the  pious  Csesar  crow^ned  by 
God.  The  emperor  who,  professing  to  have  been  aston- 
ished at  the  pope's  singular  conduct,  nevertheless  took 
an  oath  to  preserve  the  faith  and  privileges  of  the 
church.  Agreeably  to  this  oath  he  entrusted  the  clergy 
with  temporal  and  civil  jurisdiction,  expended  more 
cost  and  labor  in  the  construction  of  cathedrals  than  on 
useful  undertakings,  and  as  the  demons  of  the  air  had 
admonished  the  payment  of  tithes  he  enforced  their 
exaction  with  extreme  rigor.  The  favor  and  liberal 
indulgence  of  the  pope  enabled  the  emperor,  consist- 
ently with  his  Catholicism  to  enjoy  the  possession  of  nine 
wives,  to  divert  his  capricious  fancy  with  numberless 
mistresses,  to  prolong  the  celibacy  of  his  daughters  that 
it  might  extend  the  period  of  an  illicit  commerce,  and 
to  become  the  father  of  numerous  illegitimate  children, 
whom,  however,  in  atonement  for  his  indiscretions,  he 
consecrated  to  the  priesthood. 

The  barbarity  and  usurpations  of  which  Charlemagne 
was  guilty,  in  the  enlargement  of  his  vast  empire, 
naturally  made  him  suspicious  of   the  loyalty   of  his 


IN  FRANCE.  263 

subjects  ;  and  the  frequent  outbursts  wbicb  disturbed 
the  peace  of  certain  sections  excited  his  most  painful 
fears  for  the  stability  of  his  throne.  To  prevent  the 
disorganization  of  a  power  which  he  had  constructed 
with  so  much  labor,  but  endangered  with  so  much 
crime,  he  imprudently  scorned  the  wisdom  of  adopting 
concessionary  measures,  and  had  recourse  to  the  artifices 
of  priestcraft.  Dividing  the  empire  between  two  of 
his  sons,  he  had  them  crowned  and  anointed  with  the 
celestial  oil,  in  expectation  that  these  superstitious  cere- 
monies would  excite  in  the  minds  of  his  subjects  such 
reverence  for  the  imperial  dignity  as  would  secure  in 
its  favor  their  devout  allegiance.  But  this  arrange- 
ment excluding  his  eldest  son — the  issue  of  a  divorced 
wife — from  an  equal  participation  with  his  brothers  in 
the  administration  of  the  government,  excited  him  to 
rebel  against  the  authority  of  his  father.  His  attempt 
to  obtain  by  arms  the  justice  denied  by  parental  author- 
ity was,  in  consequence  of  the  loyalty  of  the  papal 
political  machinery,  unsuccessful ;  and  the  injured  son 
was  obliged  to  expiate  the  guilt  of  his  unfilial  insubor- 
dination by  serving  the  church  in  the  capacity  of  a 
monk,  and  passing  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  a 
monastic  dungeon. 

This  conspiracy  was  not  the  only  result  that  was  pro- 
duced by  the  policy  of  Charlemagne,  in  substituting 
superstition  in  the  place  of  justice  in  his  efforts  to  con- 
ciliate popular  dissatisfaction.  AVhile  it  lent  a  prop  to 
the  governmental  structure,  it  furnished  an  instrument 
for  undermining  its  foundation.  The  division  of  the 
monarchy  gave  occasion,  after  Charlemagne's  death,  to 
fraternal  disputes  and  civil  conflicts ;  and  as  these  dis- 


264?  PAPAL    POLItlGAi:   INTRIGUES 

orders  favored  the  pope's  ambitious  desire  to  succeed  to 
the  crown  and  dominion  of  the  Caesars,  they  were  kept 
active  by  his  machinery  until  the  empire  was  disinte- 
grated. 

The  last  survivor  of  the  Carlovingian  dynasty  was 
Charles,  Duke  of  Lorraine.  The  subjects  of  the  realm 
at  that  period  had  become  greatly  dissatisfied  concern- 
ing the  oppressive  privileges  which  the  clergy  enjoyed, 
as  well  as  with  the  impoverishing  exactions  which  they 
extorted  from  their  industry.  "With  these  popular 
grievances  the  temper  and  disposition  of  Charles  en- 
gaged his  warmest  sympathies.  Pope  John  XVI., 
elected  in  986,  perceiving  that  the  heir  presumptive  to 
the  throne  would,  when  he  acceded  to  power,  listen  to 
the  complaints  and  lessen  the  burdens  of  his  subjects ; 
and  acting  on  the  historic  motive  of  the  Holy  See,  in 
making  rulers  its  tools,  and  changing  dynasties  to  suit 
its  purposes,  induced  the  Frankish  nobility  to  proclaim 
Hugh  Capet  King  of  France.  But  before  this  syco- 
phantic papal  favorite  could  be  crowned  king,  and 
anointed  with  the  holy  oil,  he  was  obliged  to  swear  to 
preserve  the  clergy  in  all  the  privileges  and  immuni- 
ties which  they  enjoyed.  Against  this  formidable  con- 
spiracy Charles  found  himself  powerless ;  and  after 
making  some  demonstrations  against  the  usurper,  retired 
to  Lyons,  which  place  was  capable  of  withstanding  a 
vigorous  siege.  With  great  skill  and  energy,  but  with- 
out any  flattering  success,  his  adversary  assailed  the 
strong-built  fortifications.  The  success  which  valor  de- 
nied was,  however,  accorded  by  treachery.  The  bishop 
of  the  city  having  entered  into  secret  negotiations  with 
Capet,  the  gates  were  thrown  open  at  midnight;  and 


IN    FRANCE.  265 

the  usurper  entering  the  precincts  amid  the  stillness  of 
the  hour  captured  the  royal  family,  surprised  Charles 
in  bed  and  threw  him  into  prison,  from  which  he  was 
never  liberated.  The  Capitian  dynasty,  thus  founded 
in  fraud,  violence  and  usurpation,  and  unsupported  by 
a  shadow  of  legal  right,  stands  forth  in  history  as  the 
grand  champion  of  the  legitimacy  of  kings,  or  their  di- 
vine right  to  rule  by  virtue  of  their  descent,  independ- 
ent of  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

The  dynasties  of  empires  and  the  political  events  of 
nations  are  so  intimately  connected  with  the  domestic 
affairs  of  royal  families,  that  in  order  to  control  the  one, 
papal  intrigue  has  constantly  intermeddled  with  the 
other,  Robert  II.,  w^ho  became  king  of  France  in  997, 
married  Bertha,  his  cousin,  a  lady  of  inestimable  qual- 
ities. The  royal  pair  were  a  model  of  connubial  love- 
liness and  felicity ;  but  when  an  heir  had  completed  the 
perfection  of  their  happiness  the  pope  interfered,  and  by 
the  exercise  of  his  sacred  authority,  embittered  the  re- 
mainder of  their  existence.  Eobert  not  having  pur- 
chased of  the  church  an  indulgence  for  marrying  a 
cousin.  Pope  Sylvester  11.  pronounced  the  conjugal 
union  illegal,  and  commanded  the  king  to  abandon  his 
wife.  To  be  guilty  of  an  offence  of  such  a  henious 
character  against  the  most  amiable  of  women  ;  to  act 
in  violation  of  all  his  matrimonial  vows  and  obligations  ; 
to  spurn  his  lawful  wife  as  a  prostitute,  and  to  declare 
his  children  bastards,  was  a  complication  of  iniquity 
which  Robert  declared  to  the  pope  that  he  would  rather 
die  than  commit.  But  the  obdurate  and  savage-hearted 
holy  father,  whom  the  view  of  no  misfortune  could 
move,  in  order  to  reduce  the  king  to  obedience  pro- 
23 


266  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

ceeded  ta  pronounce  a  sentence  of  excommunication 
against  him.  This  act  was  designed  to  call  into  requi- 
sition all  the  appliances  of  the  pope's  machinery  in 
blasting  the  happiness  of  two  persons,  whose  worth  was 
unequaled  in  the  kingdom,  and  perhaps  unsurpassed  in 
the  records  of  history.  Accordingly  the  churches  were 
draped  in  mourning  ;  the  picures  of  the  images  of  the 
saints  shrouded  in  black  ;  the  bells  were  tolled  night 
and  day  ;  religious  worship  was  suspended  in  the  king- 
dom ;  and  no  funeral  ceremony  allowed  to  be  per- 
formed. The  immaculate  Bertha  was  declared  polluted  ; 
stories  w^ere  circulated  that  she  had  given  birth  to  a 
monster,  which  had  the  head  of  a  savage  and  the  tail 
of  a  serpent ;  the  poor,  on  whom  she  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  bestow  charity,  now  fled  at  her  approach  ;  her 
domestics  broke  the  costly  vases  which  adorned  the 
palace,  and  taking  the  viands  from  the  royal  table 
dashed  them  into  the  fire.  Consternation  seized  the 
populace ;  and  priests,  courtiers  and  people  fled  alike 
from  the  sight  of  the  amiable  couple,  as  if  they  were 
destructive  monsters.  At  length,  through  the  repeated 
requests  of  Bertha,  Kobert  agreed  to  a  separation,  and 
allowed  her  to  retire  to  a  convent.  This  act,  by  which 
he  placed  his  wife  at  the  mercy  of  licentious  priests, 
conciliated  the  vengeance  of  the  sacerdotal  monster. 

During  the  reign  of  Philip  II.,  who  became  king  of 
France  in  1180,  the  province  of  Languedoc  enjoyed  an 
eminent  degree  of  liberty  and  prosperity.  The  char- 
ters which  the  subjects  had  obtained  from  their  princes 
secured  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  many  important 
civil  rights,  fortified  by  such  jealous  guards  as  effectu- 
ally protected  them  against  the  encroachments  of  exe- 


IN   FRANCE.  267 

cutive  power.  This  liberality  in  their  political  consti- 
tution encouraged  liberality  in  religious  inquiry,  which 
consequently  led  to  doubts  of  the  pope's  right  to  tem- 
poral power.  At  the  flourishing  city  of  Albi  these 
progressive  ideas  assumed  a  definite  shape  in  an  organ- 
ization of  the  people,  which  received  the  appellation  of 
the  Albigenses.  The  pope  finding  this  sectary  increas- 
ing in  numbers  and  popularity,  in  spite  of  the  vigor- 
ous counteracting  efl'orts  of  his  appliances  of  bishops, 
priests  and  monks,  ordered  Raymond  VI.,  Count  of 
Toulouse,  to  compel  the  Albigenses,  by  force  of  arms, 
to  change  their  religious  views.  As  Raymond  of  Rogers, 
Count  of  Beziers,  nephew  of  Raymond  VI.,  had  de- 
clared in  favor  of  the  reformer,  the  Count  of  Toulouse 
refuse  to  oblige  the  pope  by  taking  up  arms  against  the 
Count  of  Beziers.  On  account  of  this  determination, 
dictated  by  a  high  and  delicate  sense  of  duty  and  honor, 
the  pope  pronounced  sentence  of  excommunication 
against  him.  In  addition  to  this  insulting  manifesto, 
he  commissioned  his  legate  to  raise  an  army  of  the  cross, 
for  the  purpose  of  exterminating  the  reformers  and 
their  allies.  This  authorized  desperado,  through  the 
energetic  co-operation  of  the  pope's  political  machinery, 
soon  collected  a  numerous  army  of  crusaders ;  and  im- 
posing on  them  a  horrible  oath  that  they  would  exter- 
minate the  Albigenses  without  pity  for  the  cries  or  tears 
of  their  wives  or  children,  immediately  commenced  the 
work  of  blood  and  devastation.  As  this  army  of  mur- 
derers approached  the  city  of  Carcassonne,  an  order 
was  given  not  to  leave  one  stone  upon  another,  and  to 
put  to  death  every  man,  woman,  youth  and  infant. 
The  butchery  was  frightful,  and  mixed  with  the  most 


268  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

fiendish  acts.  To  arrest  the  horrible  work  Raymond  of 
Rogers  offered  to  resign  his  authority.  With  execrable 
treachery  the  legate  pretended  to  be  willing  to  negoti- 
ate ;  but  no  sooner  had  he  betrayed  the  Count  into  his 
power  than  he  incarcerated  him  in  a  dungeon,  where 
he  died  after  experiencing  years  of  suffering.  After 
the  removal  of  Raymond  by  this  base  treachery,  Caros- 
sonne  fell ;  and  thirty  thousand  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren were  butchered  in  one  day.  Tired  of  the  terrible 
carnage,  or  disgusted  at  its  atrociousness,  the  chiefs  of 
the  army  of  the  cross  declared  to  the  legate,  that  among 
the  crowd  they  could  not  distinguish  the  heretic  from 
the  Catholic.  "  Kill  on,"  replied  the  holy  legate,  "  God 
will  hnow  those  which  are  his."  The  murderous  army 
moved  on ;  blood  flowed  at  every  step ;  at  Beziers 
sixty  thousand  were  put  to  death;  nor  did  the  car- 
nage cease  until  the  inhabitants  of  almost  every  town 
in  Languedoc,  without  distinction  of  age,  sex  or 
creed,  were  weltering  in  their  gore.  As  an  express 
reward  to  Simon  de  Monfort  for  having  surpassed 
all  others  in  hardihood  and  cruelty  on  those  days  of 
blood,  the  pope  bestowed  upon  him  the  devastated  do- 
mains as  a  fief  of  the  church.  But  the  soil  sown  with 
the  bones  of  heroes,  and  enriched  with  the  blood  of  pa- 
triots, was  prolific  of  formidable  avengers;  who  con- 
stantly shook  the  throne,  and  rendered  it  a  calamity  to 
its  blood-stained  occupant.  His  son  succeeded  him ; 
but  not  being  able  to  defend  it  against  the  uprising  of 
the  people,  it  was  incorporated  into  the  French  empire ; 
but  still  the  war  raged,  until  1226,  when  a^peace  was 
concluded  with  Raymond  IV.,  upon  condition  of  his 
purchasing  absolution  at  an  enormous  price,  and  ceding 
the  greater  portion  of  his  domains  to  France. 


IN   FRANCE.  269 

In  1285,  when  Philip  IV.  ascended  the  throne  of 
France,  the  despotism,  of  Eome  had  perpetually  en- 
croached on  the  rights  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  by  an  insidious  policy  subjected  it  more 
and  more  to  its  influence.  Among  the  privileges  which 
the  popes  arrogated  was  the  right  to  arbitrate  the  contro- 
versies which  arose  between  independent  sovereignties. 
A  dispute  having  sprung  up  between  Philip  IV.,  of 
France,  and  Edward  L,  of  England,  Pope  Boniface 
VIII.,  wishing  to  enjoy  the  advantage  of  dictating  the 
terms  of  adjustment,  arbitrarily  attempted  to  interfere 
in  the  controversy.  This  officious  intermeddling  in  the 
affairs  of  a  sovereign  state  was  resisted  by  Philip  with 
patriotic  firmness.  The  irascible  pope,  transjDorted  with 
rage  at  the  irreverence  and  independence  of  Philip, 
and  at  the  recollection  of  his  liberal  governmental 
views  and  measures,  interdicted  all  religious  worship  in 
his  dominions,  and  suspended  the  dispensation  of  the 
means  of  grace.  But  the  policy  of  Philip,  in  introduc- 
ing the  "third  estates,"  or  deputies  of  the  peojDle,  which 
had  been  instituted  by  Charlemagne,  but  discontinued  by 
Hugh  Capet,  and  in  his  extending  the  jurisdiction 
of  parliament  over  the  crowned  heals,  had  fortified 
him  in  the  affections  of  his  subjects,  while  the  papal 
establishments,  in  extracting  the  life-blood  from  the  in- 
dustrial classes,  had  weakened  popular  attachment  to 
the  Holy  See.  The  liberality  of  the  king  nullified 
the  virtue  of  the  Vatican  thunder  ;  and  the  generous  sup- 
port which  he  commanded  from  the  people,  and  from  a 
faction  of  the  priests,  enabled  him  to  resist  the  inter- 
meddling of  the  pope  with  the  rights  of  the  crown  ; 
nay  more,  as  the  tyranny  of  the  holy  father  had  ren- 
23* 


270  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

dered  him  unpopular  in  Italy,  it  placed  him  at  the  mer- 
cy of  a  prince  whom  he  had  insulted  and  exasperated, 
and  who  was  capable  of  taking  revenge.  Accordingly, 
emissaries  were  sent  to  Eome  who,  seizing  the  holy 
father  while  he  was  defiantly  seated  in  ihe  apostolic 
chair,  dragged  him  from  his  despotic  throne,  and  cast 
him  into  prison.  From  this  ignominious  predicament 
he  was,  however,  shortly  afterwards  released ;  hut  as 
his  character  was  black  with  crime,  it  was  determined 
to  summon  a  council  for  his  deposition.  Depressed 
with  the  expectation  of  certain  degradation,  chagrined 
and  mortified  at  the  loss  of  his  dignity  and  the  insults 
to  his  holiness,  and  having  refused  all  sustenance  in 
confinement  for  fear  of  being  poisoned,  his  constitution 
broke  down,  and  he  died  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage  and  fear 
before  arrangements  could  be  completed  for  his  trial. 
According  to  Catholic  authority,  "  he  entered  like  a 
fox,  reigned  like  a  tiger,  and  died  like  a  dog."  His 
condition  after  his  death  may  be  variously  conjectured 
by  theologians  according  to  their  different  creeds ;  but 
Dante,  who  was  a  Catholic,  places  him  in  hell  between 
Pope  Nicholas  III.  and  Pope  Clement  V. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XII.,  who  became  King  of 
France  in  1498,  the  duplicity  and  treachery  which  has 
in  general  characterized  the  history  of  the  papal  in- 
trigues obtained  an  illustration  in  the  conduct  of  the 
popes,  which  would  have  disgraced  the  chiefs  of  bar- 
baric nations.  Louis,  upon  receiving  the  royal  diadem, 
pardoned  the  wrongs  which  had  been  done  to  him 
while  he  was  duke,  relieved  the  industry  of  his  sub- 
jects by  reducing  the  burden  of  their  taxation,  elevated 
the  literary  standard  of  the   nation  by  the  introduction 


IN    FRANCE.  271 

of  scientific  collections,  and  displayed  a  n-oMeness  of 
disposition,  and  a  capacity  for  the  exercise  of  the  gov- 
ernmental functions  prophetic  of  the  highest  degree  of 
national  prosperity  and  greatness.  Pope  Julius  II. 
before  his  election,  had  professed  the  warmest  friend- 
ship for  Louis,  and  secured  his  influence  in  gaining  the 
sacerdotal  crown.  Having  succeeded  in  this  strategic 
measure,  his  ambition  led  him  to  grasp  at  another  object 
which  he  conceived  Louis's  friendship  might  be  made 
accessory  in  realizing.  That  object  was  the  oblitera- 
tion of  the  Venitian  republic.  He  accordingly  formed 
a  holy  league,  called  the  "  League  of  Cambray,"  with 
France,  Spain  and  Germany,  for  the  accomplishment  of 
his  object.  Faithful  to  his  obligations,  Louis  fought 
with  distinguished  bravery  in  the  pope's  cause.  His 
heroism  won  encomiums  from  all  but  from  the  holy 
father,  who  was  too  jealous  not  to  hate  superiority,  too 
selfish  for  sincere  friendship,  and  too  sagacious  not  to 
perceive  that  in  the  further  developments  of  his  aggres- 
sive designs  he  was  bound  to  encounter  in  the  heroism 
and  honor  of  Louis  a  powerful  antagonist.  The  form- 
idable valor  of  the  Venitian  republicans  in  the  defence 
of  their  government,  the  mutual  distrust  among  the 
allies,  which  they  managed  to  excite,  and  the  con- 
flicting interpretations"  of  the  terms  of  the  compact 
eventually  dissolved  the  holy  league.  But  the  finesse 
of  the  pope,  and  the  adroitness  with  which  he  engineered 
his  machinery,  gave  him  the  ability  to  conciliate  his 
difficulties  with  the  republicans,  and  of  inducing  that 
republic  to  unite  with  him  in  a  league  with  Spain, 
England  and  Switzerland,  against  France.  Germany 
and   France  then   called  a  council  at  Pisa,  for  reforma- 


272  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

tion  in  the  head  and  body  of  the  church ;  at  the  bar 
of  which  they  summoned  the  pope,  to  explain  his  con- 
duct. But  scorning  the  mandate  of  the  synod,  he  con- 
vened a  council  at  the  Lateran ;  and  causing  a  decree 
to  be  passed  declaring  Louis  to  have  forfeited  his  crown, 
excommunicated  him,  and  interdicted  the  celebration  of 
religious  worship  in  his  kingdom.  Louis  was  now  as- 
saulted by  the  English  at  Guingate,  by  the  Spanish  at 
Navarre,  by  the  Swiss  at  Dijon,  while  his  kingdom  was 
internally  convulsed  by  treacherous  priests,  crafty 
spies,  false  friends,  and  unpatriotic  Catholics.  Unable 
to  contend  against  these  formidable  antagonists,  he  had 
to  surrendered  all  his  possessions  beyond  the  Alps 
and  the  Pyrenees. 

Pope  Leo  X.,  who  succeeded  Julius  II.,  governed  by 
motives  of  nepotism  and  ambition,  concocted  a  scheme 
for  obtaining  for  his  family  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and 
the  duchies  of  Ferrara  and  Urbino.  At  the  same  time 
Louis  entertained  a  design  of  reconquering  Milan, 
which  he  inherited  from  his  grandmother,  Valentina 
Visconti.  The  success  of  these  schemes  depended  on 
the  mutual  friendship  of  the  projectors.  The  pope,  in 
order  to  secure  the  confidence  of  Louis,  entered  into  a 
secret  alliance  with  him,  and  pretended  to  favor  all  his 
plans.  But  while  he  was  flattering  his  hopes,  he  was 
preparing  to  ruin  his  cause.  To  weaken  his  resources 
he  secretly  sent  Bambo,  his  legate,  to  Venice  to  de- 
tach its  alliance  from  France ;  and  though  this  treach- 
erous mission  was  unsuccessful,  yet  when  the  French 
appeared  on  the  confines  of  Italy,  he  increased  his 
power  by  the  purchase  of  Modena,  and  finally  reduced 
Louis  to  a  formal  submission. 


IN   FRANCE.  273 

In  1515  Francis  I,  ascended  the  throne,  and  immedi- 
ately commenced  preparations  for  the  re-conquest  of 
Milan.  Pope  Leo  X.,  to  defeat  this  enterprise  formed 
an  alliance  with  Milan,  Florence,  Artois,  Germany  and 
Switzerland.  A  bloody  battle  ensued  in  which  tigers 
and  giants  seemed  to  struggle  with  each  other,  and 
which  was  protracted  without  intermission  for  two 
days  and  nights.  France  recovered  Milan;  the  pope 
was  reduced  to  the  last  extremity ;  yet  the  pru- 
dence or  superstition  of  Francis  concluded  a  con- 
cordat with  him,  upon  such  liberal  terms  as  excited 
the  dissatisfaction  of  France,  and  the  surprise  of  the 
world. 

After  this  signal  and  generous  triumph  the  bellige- 
rant  powers  became  reconciled.  This  event  was  hailed 
by  the  friends  of  humanity  with  united  acclamations. 
But  the  Holy  See,  whose  policy  has  ever  been  to  foster 
wars  and  controversies  between  governments,  that  it 
might  improve  the  consequent  confusion  and  disorder 
in  aggrandizing  its  power,  received  the  news  of  pacifi- 
cation with  chagrin  and  disappointment. 

But  Milan,  which  had  cost  France  so  much  to  win, 
was  soon  lost  by  the  conquest  of  Charles  V.,  Emperor 
of  Germany  and  King  of  Spain.  This  prince  having 
formed  a  league  with  Pope  Leo  X.  against  Francis  I., 
— which  league  was  afterwards  joined  by  Henry  VIIL, 
of  England — active  hostilities  were  soon  commenced. 
After  a  war  of  four  disastrous  years,  the  emperor  cap- 
tured Francis,  obliged  him  to  relinquish  his  claims  to 
Naples,  Milan,  Genoa,  Asti,  Flanders  and  Artois;  to 
dismember  his  kingdom  by  surrendering  Burgundy; 
and  to  ransom  himself  by  the  payment  of  2,000,000 


274  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

crowns.  The  popularity  and  victorious  marcli  of  the 
German  emperor  now  alarmed  the  jealous  fears  of  the 
holy  father,  Pope  Clement  VII.,  who,  apprehending  in 
them  his  own  subjugation,  united  in  an  alliance  with. 
Francis  I.,  the  former  antagonist  of  the  Roman  See,  and 
with  all  the  Italian  powers,  to  arrest  the  dangerous  tri- 
umphs of  his  new  rival.  The  allies  succeeded  in 
humbling  the  pride  of  Charles  ;  but  in  the  midst  of 
their  victories  a  plague,  more  fearful  than  their  foes, 
broke  out  in  the  French  army,  and  thinned  its  ranks 
with  fearful  mortality.  This  circumstance  led  to  the 
peace  of  Cambray.  But  the  ambition  of  Francis,  and 
his  indomitable  thirst  for  the  reconquest  of  Milan,  soon 
led  him  to  violate  the  terms  of  this  covenant.  Confed- 
erating with  Solyman  II.,  Sultan  of  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire, he  drove  Charles  before  his  forces.  The  interest 
of  the  Holy  See  being  threatened  by  the  successes  of 
the  allied  army,  and  perhaps  in  the  event  of  the  tri- 
umph of  Charles  not  perfectly  secure,  Pope  Paul  III. 
interposed  his  friendly  mediation,  and  induced  the  bel- 
ligerents to  conclude  a  truce  of  ten  years. 

In  1559  Francis  II.,  son  of  Francis  I.,  succeeded  to 
the  crown  of  France.  Amid  the  flattering  successes  of 
the  papal  intrigues,  the  rapid  progress  of  Protestantism 
in  Europe,  and  the  fearless  boldness  of  its  advocates, 
occasioned  great  uneasiness  to  the  Holy  See.  Scorning 
the  mild  but  able  services  of  reason  and  conciliation,  it 
counselled  the  most  sanguinary  measures.  The  records 
of  the  times  are  consequently  filled  with  accounts  of 
disorders,  assassinations,  massacres,  and  the  most  deplor- 
able conflicts.  The  French  nation  was  divided  into 
two  great  factions  ;  the  one  in  favor  of  Catholicism,  the 


IN    FRANCE.  275 

other   in   favor   of  Protestantism.     By   means   of    the 
papal  machinery  of  bishops,  abbots,  priests,  monks  and 
spies,  the  Catholics  were  made  to  believe  that  the  relig- 
ious disorders  which  had  convulsed  the  empire  were 
but   a   prelude   to  an   intended   extermination   of    all 
Bomanists.     To   narrow-minded  bigots,  who   absurdly 
believed  that  their  church  afforded  the  only  possible 
method  of  escaping  the  pangs  of  purgatory,  and  of  ob- 
taining eternal  happiness,  all  the  zeal  which  their  hopes 
and  fears  of  eternity  could  inspire  was  awakened  in 
the  defence   of  their  religion.     While  the  Protestants 
who,  on   the  other  hand,  believed  that  Catholicism  was 
idolatry,  subversive  of  Christianity,  demoralizing  in  its 
tendency,  and  destructive  of  the  rights  of  conscience, 
reason  and  religious  liberty,  became  equally  heated  in 
the  defence  of  their  faith.     Both  factions  had  been  edu- 
cated in  intolerent  principles  ;  in  the  belief  that  error 
of  opinion  was  perilous  to  the  soul ;  that  it  rendered  a 
person  a  proper  object  of  aversion  and  denunciation ; 
and,  that  a  difference  of  opinion  was  a  sufEcient  justifi- 
cation of  hatred  and  persecution.     Both  factions  being 
educated  in  the  principles  of  bigotry  and  intolerance, 
nursed   amid   convulsions    and    barbarity,    embittered 
against  each  other  by  mutual  provocations  and  injury, 
were  incapable   of  pacification  by  just  and  reasonable 
concession.      The    Catholics,  having   the   power,    were 
enabled  to  inflict  on  the  Protestants  the  deeper  injuries  ; 
and,  to  the  credit  of  the  Protestants  it  will  ever  be  re- 
membered, that  they  sought  not  to   exterminate  their 
foes,  but  to  obtain  equal  rights  with  them. 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  who  had  supervision  of  the 
clergy,  and    Henry,  Duke  of   Guise,  the  uncle  of  the 


276  PAPAL    POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

king,  who  directed  tlie  military  affairs,  were  both  un- 
compromising in  their  hostility  to  the  Protestants. 
Antony  of  Bourbon,  King  of  Navarre,  and  his  brother 
Louis,  Prince  of  Conde,  being  excluded  from  the  gov- 
ernmental administration,  united  with  the  Calvinists  for 
the  overthrow  of  the  regime,  under  pretext  of  religious 
zeal.  Catherine  de  Medici,  mother  of  the  hing,  and 
niece  of  Pope  Clement  VII.,  jealous  of  a  power  in 
which  she  could  not  participate,  favored  the  designs  of 
Louis,  and  employed  her  art  in  stimulating  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  reformers  to  the  administration  of  the  Duke 
of  Guise.  Under  these  circumstances  a  conspiracy 
against  the  duke  was  formed  at  Amboise,  w^hich  led  to 
a  murderous  onslaught,  and  inaugurated  civil  war. 
Louis  was  captured  and  condemned  to  death. 

In  the  midst  of  the  distraction  of  conflicting  parties 
Francis  I.  died,  and  Charles  IX.,  in  1560,  succeeded  to 
the  throne  at  the  age  of  ten  years.  Catherine  de  Medici, 
his  mother,  with  the  acquiesence  of  parliament,  admin- 
istered the  affairs  of  government.  Although  a  bigoted 
Catholic,  yet  having  no  principle  but  the  love  of  sway, 
she  was  ready  to  support  any  faction  or  creed  that  ad- 
ministered to  her  power,  or  removed  an  obstacle  to  her 
ambition.  Without  profound  views  of  policy,  she  was 
incapable  of  either  originating  a  great  national  object, 
or  of  supporting  it  by  adequate  measures.  So  indomit- 
able was  her  passion  for  dominion,  that  it  as  much  ob- 
durated  her  maternal  feelings  as  it  disqualified  her  for 
a  judicious  regent.  She  even  studied  to  incapacitate 
her  sons  for  the  exercise  of  the  governmental  functions, 
and  to  divert  their  attention  from  the  state  of  national 
affairs.     With  this  end  in  view  she  involved  them  in 


nr  pitANCE.  277 

the  grossest  dissipation,  and  strove  to  keep  them  in  a 
perpetual  whirl  of  voluptuous  intoxication.  Perfect  in 
the  art  of  dissimulation,  she  cajoled  Catholics  and 
Protestants.  Anxious  to  obtain  the  support  of  all  par- 
ties, she  alternately  favored  the  one  and  the  other.  To 
embarrass  the  Duke  of  Guise  she  threw  everything  into 
confusion  ;  but  to  conciliate  the  Protestants  she  had  to 
redeem  her  pledges ;  and  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of 
the  court,  to  issue  an  act  of  toleration  in  their  favor. 

The  lines  of  party  became  now  distinctly  drawn. 
The  Protestant  faction,  headed  by  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
and  Coligny,  admiral  of  France,  was  assisted  by  the 
English ;  and  the  Catholic  faction,  headed  by  Francis, 
Duke  of  Guise,  was  assisted  by  Spain.  At  a  season  of 
intense  public  excitement  the  Duke  of  Guise,  with  a 
band  of  adherents,  was  passing  a  barn  in  which  some 
Calvinists  were  singing  psalms.  Irritating  taunts  were 
mutually  exchanged  between  the  two  parties.  This 
exasperating  conduct  brought  on  a  collision,  in  which 
sixty  Calvinists  were  killed,  the  flames  of  civil  war  ig- 
nited, and  the  empire  divided  and  distracted  by  the 
hostile  conflicts  of  the  two  religious  parties.  The  duke, 
at  the  head  of  his  forces,  pursued  the  Protestants  with 
pitiless  revenge,  and  the  Protestants  retaliated  his  cru- 
elties with  fearful  retribution.  Desperate  conflicts  per- 
petually took  place,  and  the  land  was  drenched  with 
blood.  The  bigotry  of  both  factions  stained  their  cause 
with  deplorable  excesses.  At  the  battle  of  Dreux  the 
belligerents  came  to  a  decisive  engagement.  The 
Protestants  were  defeated,  and  Conde  captured.  The 
Duke  of  Guise  designing  to  crush  Protestantism  by 
Btriking  a  blow  at  Orleans,  its  centre,  commenced  ac- 
24 


278  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTEIGUES 

tive  preparations  for  tlie  enterprise  ;  but  while  lie  was 
engaged  in  them  he  was  shot  by  Poltrot  de  Mercy,  a 
Huguenot  nobleman.  Advising  peace  in  his  last  mo- 
ments, terms  of  conciliation  were  accordingly  offered 
the  Protestants,  which  being  accepted,  tranquillity  was 
restored  to  the  empire. 

The  arts  of  Catherine,  the  intolerance  of  Catholicism, 
and  the  suspicion  and  fervor  of  Protestantism,  soon 
convulsed  the  nation  again  with  the  disorders  of  civil 
war.  Aspiring  to  rule  with  more  absolute  power  than 
she  had  hitherto  been  able,  Catherine  conceived  the 
idea  of  having  the  king,  whom  she  heM  helplessly  under 
her  control,  declared  to  be  of  competent  age  for  the 
exercise  of  the  royal  functions.  This  accomplished, 
she  made  a  tour  through  the  empire  in  company  with 
him.  At  Bayonne  the  young  king  had  an  interview  with 
his  sister,  wife  of  Philip  II.,  King  of  Spain.  The  sus- 
picions of  the  Calvinists  were  immediately  excited ; 
they  precipitately  armed  themselves  for  defence,  and 
formed  a  conspiracy  to  assassinate  the  king.  Civil  war 
consequently  broke  out.  A  severe  and  bloody  engage- 
ment took  place  at  St.  Dennis.  The  losses  were  heavy 
on  both  sides  ;  but  Montmorency,  a  prominent  Catholic 
leader  being  killed,  another  treaty  of  peace  was  con- 
cluded. But  the  artifice  and  dissimulation  of  Catherine 
only  made  treaties  w^hich  contained  the  elements  of  fu- 
ture wars.  They  satisfied  neither  the  Catholics  nor  the 
Protestants ;  and  were  evaded  by  both.  Contrary  to 
the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  St.  Dennis,  the  Calvin- 
ists still  continued  to  hold  places  which  they  had  con- 
tracted to  surrender,  and  to  continue  correspondence 
with  England  and  Holland,  which  they  had  agreed  to 


IN    FRANCE.  279 

break  off.  The  inflammable  material  of  religious 
bigotry,  together  with  these  circumstances,  provoked 
another  intestine  war.  The  Buke  of  Anjou,  afterwards 
Henry  III.,  commanded  the  Catholic  faction ;  and 
Conde,  and  Admiral  Coligny  headed  the  Protest- 
ant faction.  At  the  battle  of  Jarnac,  Conde  was  cap- 
tured and  shot;  and  at  the  battle  of  Montcontour 
Coligny  was  defeated.  Amid  these  discomfitures  of  the 
Protestants  a  peace  was  offered  them  on  terms  of  such 
extraordinary  generosity  by  the  Catholics,  that  they 
were  unconditionally  accepted. 

Henry  of  Navarre,  Conde's  son,  subsequently  Henry 
IV.,  on  hearing  of  his  father's  death  swore  to  revenge 
his  murder;  but  the  peace  which  had  just  been  con- 
cluded rendered  him  destitute  of  means  and  arms.  His 
mother,  Queen  Jeanne  d'Albret,  after  the  death  of  her 
husband,  Conde,  King  of  Navarre,  had,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  intrigues  of  Catherine,  retired  from  the 
French  court  to  Beam,  her  hereditary  possessions.  In 
this  retreat  she  declared  herself  in  favor  of  the  Hugue- 
nots. When  her  son  was  but  eleven  years  old  the 
Guises,  in  conjunction  with  Philip  II.,  King  of  Spain, 
devised  a  plot  for  depriving  the  young  prince  of  his 
hereditary  possessions  in  lower  Navarre,  and  of  placing 
him  in  the  hands  of  the  latter  tyrant.  The  sagacity  of 
Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  however,  detected  this 
conspiracy  in  time  to  frustrate  it.  In  consequence  of 
this  base  machination,  Queen  Jeanne  d'Albert  placed 
her  son  Henry,  when  he  was  but  sixteen  years  old,  at 
the  head  of  a  Protestant  army,  and  caused  him  to  take 
an  oath  to  shed  the  last  drop  of  his  blood  in  the  defence 
of  his  kingdom  and  religion.  . 


"280  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

Henry  Guise,  son  of  Francis  Guise,  Duke  of  Lorraine, 
became  the  commander  of  the  royal  army.  The  bloody 
Catherine,  in  collusion  with  this  ambitious  and  bigoted 
duke,  concocted  a  plot  for  the  total  extermination  of  all 
the  Protestants  in  the  French  empire.  The  peace  which 
had  been  concluded  with  the  Protestants  at  Jarnac  and 
Montcontour  was  but  the  preliminary  measure  in  the 
accomplishment  of  this  horrible  project.  The  terms  it 
accorded  were  so  surprisingly  advantageous  to  the  con- 
quered forces,  that  the  more  cautious  Protestants  re- 
garded it  with  suspicion.  The  next  device  in  this  insid- 
ious plot,  was  a  specious  pretence  of  uniting  all  parties 
in  interest  and  harmony  by  the  bonds  of  two  mar- 
riages, the  one  between  the  king,  Charles  IX.,  and 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Maximilian  II.,  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  other  between  Margaret,  the  queen's  sis- 
ter, and  Henry,  Prince  of  Navarre.  All  the  distin- 
guished Protestant  leaders  were  earnestly  invited  to  be 
present  at  the  celebration  of  the  royal  nuptials.  Fear- 
ing treachery  many  of  them,  however,  declined  the 
honor.  Amid  the  magnificence  and  festivity  of  the 
occasion  Queen  Jeanne  d' Albert  was  poisoned.  Shortly 
after  Coligny  was  wounded  by  a  shot  from  a  window. 
The  king  swore  to  punish  the  villain  w^ho  had  attempted 
the  assassination.  His  mother  assured  him  Coligny  had 
the  same  designs  on  his  life.  Bursting  into  rage  he 
exclaimed  :  "  Kill  every  Protestant — kill  Coligny." 
Catherine  then  held  her  council  of  blood.  All  having 
been  concerted  for  a  general  massacre,  on  Bartholomew's 
eve,  at  midnight  of  the  day  fixed,  the  church  bells  an- 
nounced the  signal  for  commencing  the  horrible  butch- 
ery.    Wild  shrieks  and  murderous  clamor  immediately 


IN    FRANCE.  281 

shook  the  air.  '*  Spare  none ;  it  is  God's,  it  is  Cathe- 
rine's it  is  the  king's  order."  shouted  the  Catholic 
leaders  as  they  led  on  their  gangs  of  remorseless  bigots. 
In  the  red  glare  of  terrifying  flambeaux,  were  seen 
daggers  dripping  with  the  blood  of  men,  women,  and 
even  babes.  The  people  without  means  of  defence  or 
flight  saw  they  were  doomed  to  perish  without  mercy 
or  revenge.  Coligny  awakened  from  his  sleep  by  the 
terrific  yells  and  screams  that  filled  the  air,  arose  from 
his  bed  and  opened  the  door  of  his  mansion.  Meeting 
the  assassins,  he  courteously  invited  them  into  his 
chamber.  "Companions,"  said  he,  "  finish  your  work. 
Take  the  blood  sixty  years  of  war  have  respected : 
Coligny  will  forgive  you.  My  life  is  of  little  conse- 
quence, and  though  I  would  rather  lose  it  in  defending 
you,  yet  take  it."  Touched  at  these  words,  and  his 
calm,  majestic  countenance,  the  ruffians  fell  upon  their 
knees ;  one  of  them  threw  away  his  dagger ;  another 
embraced  the  knees  of  his  intended  victim,  and  the 
courage  of  all  dissolved  into  tears.  Besme,  the  com- 
mander of  the  gang,  who  had  waited  in  the  court  for 
Coligny's  head,  becoming  impatient  entered  the  cham- 
ber, and  seeing  the  assassins  overcome  by  humanity  de- 
nounced them  as  traitors  to  Catherine.  At  this  denun- 
ciation  one  of  them  averting  his  head,  drew  his  sword 
and  plunged  it  into  Coligny's  breast.  For  thirty  days 
in  every  part  of  the  kingdom  the  most  atrocious  acts 
were  perpetrated.  Doors  were  burst  open ;  men  and 
women  assassinated  night  and  day ;  babes  torn  from 
their  mother's  arms  were  murdered  before  their  parents' 
eyes.  Over  this  dreadful  calamity  the  friends  and  foes 
of  France  might  have  together  wept;  but  Rome  was 
24* 


282  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

illuminated,  cannons  were  fired  in  its  honor,  churches 
were  shaken  with  the  -peals  of  thanksgiving,  priests 
formed  themselves  into  holy  processions  to  testify  their 
joy,  jubilees  were  proclaimed,  and  the  pope,  jealous  of 
the  authorship  of  atrocities  that  shook  the  world  with 
horror,  had  medals  prepared  to  immortalize  his  right  to 
the  honor  of  having  originated  the  most  horrible  mas- 
sacre on  record.  When  we  consider  the  atrociousness 
of  the  massacre,  and  the  exultations  of  the  holy  father,  we 
are  at  a  loss  which  most  to  pity,  the  victims  of  the  catas- 
trophe, or  the  fiend  that  rejoiced  over  it.  After  the  in- 
cidents of  that  day  Henry  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince 
of  Conde  had  to  profess  Catholicism  in  order  to  save 
their  lives.  This  device  defeating  the  designs  of  Cath- 
erine on  the  life  of  Henry,  she  next  added  to  the 
ignominy  of  her  character  by  attempting  to  dissolve 
the  marriage  which,  through  her  influence,  had  just 
been  consummated.  Foiled  in  this  scheme,  she  then 
sought  to  poison  the  happiness  of  the  royal  pair.  To 
hold  Henry  spell-bound  in  the  power  of  her  fascinations, 
she  spread  around  him  all  the  voluptuous  allurements 
of  sensual  pleasure.  But  the  native  magnanimity  of 
his  spirit  broke  the  thralls  of  her  enchantment ;  and 
secretly  escaping  from  a  corrupt  and  besotted  court,  he 
recanted  his  Catholicism,  and  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Protestant  League  as  King  of  Navarre ;  a 
title  which  he  had  rightfully  assumed  since  his  mother's 
death.  The  revenge  which  was  now  rife  on  the  lips  of 
thousands,  for  slaughtered  relatives  and  citizens,  and 
the  portentous  disasters  which  overhung  the  empire,  con- 
vinced Catherine  of  her  error  ;  and  Charles,  tracing  the 
calamities   of  the    nation  to  her  ambition,  resolved  to 


IN  FRANCE.  283 

atone  for  his  past  neglect  by  governing  tlie  empire 
himself :  but  death  too  soon  deprived  him  of  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  this  atonement. 

On  the  death  of  Charles  IX.,  Henry  III.,  his  brother, 
succeeded  to  the  throne.  But  being  then  King  of 
Poland,  Catherine,  his  mother,  was  permitted  to  govern 
in  his  name  until  he  should  be  able  to  assume  the  ad- 
ministration himself.  Catherine  immediately  concluded 
a  peace  with  the  Huguenots,  which  granted  them  relig- 
ious liberty  But  this  liberal  concession  exasperated 
the  Catholics,  and  afforded  Henry  Guise  a  pretext  for 
perfecting  a  league  which  had  been  projected  by  Car- 
dinal Lorraine.  The  professed  object  of  this  league  was 
to  defend  Catholicism,  and  extirpate  religious  liberty  ;■ 
but  it  had  also  a  secret  object,  which  was  to  usurp  the 
throne.  After  Henry  III.  had  returned  to  his  domains, 
his  profligate  disposition,  and  his  want  of  decision  and 
firmness  made  him  the  dupe  of  his  mother's  intrigues. 
By  her  machinations  he  was  kept  imprisoned  in  the 
royal  palace,  occupied  with  frivolous  intrigues  and  stu- 
pefied with  debauch,  even  while  dissension  was  shaking 
his  government,  and  treason  plotting  his  downfall.  Be- 
sides the  unpopularity  which  his  neglect  of  national 
affairs  engendered  in  the  minds  of  his  subjects,  his 
marriage  with  the  Countess  of  Lorraine,  giving  the 
Guises  increased  influence  in  the  government,  added 
suspicion  to  the  popular  discontent. 

By  the  support  of  the  papal  machinery,  Henry 
Guise  became  sufficiently  powerful  to  dictate  laws  to  the 
king.  He  obliged  him  to  annul  all  provisions  in  favor 
of  the  reformers,  and  carried  his  insolence  so  far  that 
the  king  forbid  him  to  approach  the  capitol.     It  was 


284  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

now  discoTered  that  the  duke  intended  to  kidnap  the 
ting,  imprison  him  in  a  monastic  dungeon,  and  usurp 
the  imperial  authority.  Conscious  of  his  power,  the 
duke  boldly  violated  the  king's  command,  that  he  should 
not  enter  Paris,  At  this  defiance  the  king  called  on 
his  troops  for  assistance ;  hut  so  eifectively  had  the 
pope's  machinery  operated,  that  the  people  attacked  the 
royal  troops,  drove  them  away,  and  thirty  thousand  pa- 
pists sprung  to  arms  in  the  defence  of  the  duke.  Such 
was  the  helplessness  of  the  king  that  he  had  to  fly  for 
safety  to  Chartres,  and  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  his 
enemy.  Upon  the  assembling  of  the  Estates  of  Blois, 
they  decided  that  the  duke  was  too  powerful  to  be 
brought  to  trial,  but  that  his  open  treason  would  justify 
the  king  in  having  him  assassinated.  Appearing  to  be 
reconciled  to  him  he  then  partook  of  the  eucharist  in 
company  with  him ;  but  while  he  did  so,  gave  secret 
orders  for  his  assassination.  In  a  few  days  after  this  event 
the  duke  was  stabbed  as  he  entered  the  royal  palace,^ 
and  Cardinal  Lorraine  met  the  same  fate  in  a  dungeon. 
The  severe  disappointments  which  these  melancholy 
events  occasioned  to  the  hopes  of  the  Papal  See,  gave 
rise  to  a  holy  league  against  Henr}''  III.,  headed  by  the 
Duke  of  Mayenne,  brother  of  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
which  league  was  supported  by  all  the  resources  of 
Pome.  Every  department  of  the  papal  machinery  was 
now  set  in  the  most  vigorous  action,  Paris  and  the 
principal  cities  of  France  were  incited  to  declare  against 
the  king.  The  Serbonne,  the  highest  Catholic  university 
in  the  empire,  absolved  the  subjects  from  their  alle- 
giance to  him  ;  the  pope  threatened  him  with  excom- 
munication ;  and  his  assassination  was  publicly  preached 


IN   FRANCE.  285. 

in  the  churclies.  But  by  a  fortunate  coalition  with 
Henry  of  Navarre  the  king  defeated  the  pope  and  his 
league,  re-captured  Paris,  and  established  again  his 
authority  in  the  empire.  Yet  the  Catholic  church, 
which  never  forgives  an  offence,  and  scruples  at  no 
means  to  remove  an  obstacle,  found  a  Dominican  monk 
who  executed  her  vengeance  by  the  assassination  of 
the  king. 

Henry  III.  left  no  male  heirs ;  consequently  Henry 
of  Navarre  became  the  legitimate  inheritor  of  the 
throne  of  France.  The  papal  machinery  which  in  vain 
had  been  called  into  requisition  to  destroy  him,  was 
now  set  in  vigorous  operation  to  prevent  him  from 
establishing  a  legal  right  to  his  heritage.  The  Duke 
of  Mayenne,  at  the  head  of  the  Catholics,  declared 
against  him ;  Philip  II.,  king  of  Spain,  claimed  the 
crown  ;  and  several  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to 
assassinate  him.  But  the  valor  and  sagacity  of  Henry 
defeated  his  enemies,  and  triumphed  over  all  difficul- 
ties. The  papal  machinery  was,  however,  still  formid- 
able ;  and  Henry  IV,,  convinced  that  the  blood  of  his 
subjects  must  continue  to  flow  as  long  as  they  were 
governed  by  a  Protestant  sovereign,  decided  to  profess 
the  Catholic  faith,  which  of  all  others  he  must  have 
sincerely  detested.  By  this  politic  act  of  humiliation 
he  acquired  for  his  subjects  political  security  and  entire 
religious  liberty,  and  obtained  from  the  pope  a  conces- 
sion to  his  right  to  the  crown.  But  in  sacrificing  prin- 
ciple to  expediency  he  did  not  conciliate  papal  malice, 
nor  secure  tranquillity  to  his  reign.  Conspiracies  were 
rife,  female  intrigue  abounded,  bigotry  and  intolerance 
gave  birth  to  much  violence  and  disorder,  and  finally, 


286  1>APAL   POLITICAL   INTBIOrES 

the  long-premeditated  assassination  of  Henry  IV.  was 
accomplished  by  Ravaillac,  who  stabbed  him  to  the 
heart  with  a  double-edged  sword,  the  papal  symbol  of 
spiritual  and  temporal  power. 

The  papal  machinery  during  the  past  reigns  had  de- 
moralized the  nation.  The  national  policy  was  charac- 
terized by  a  system  of  falsehood,  corruption  and  intrigue. 
Princes  of  the  blood  were  excluded  from  the  throne,  on 
account  of  their  liberal  proclivities.  Innocent  men, 
women  and  children  were  imprisoned,  murdered  and 
burnt.  Female  intrigue,  the  bane  of  national  peace 
and  virtue  predominated  in  political  circles ;  and  pub- 
lic robbery  and  extravagance  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
debt  which  ultimately  broke  down  the  government. 

Under  Louis  XIII.,  who  became  King  of  France  in 
1610,  the  papal  machinery  was  directed  by  Cardinal 
Richelieu,  who  governed  the  king ;  by  M.  Tellier, 
his  confessor,  and  Madame  Maitenon,  his  prostitute, 
who  governed  the  cabinet.  Richelieu  gave  boldness 
and  craft  to  the  national  policy,  and  consummated  the 
governmental  absoluteness  which  had  been  initiated  by 
Louis  XL  Division  of  power  being  more  friendly  to 
justice  and  republicanism  than  consolidation,  the  papal 
political  machinery  has  always  vigorously,  as  well  as 
universally,  labored  to  defeat  the  first  and  encourage 
the  second.  But  w^hat  is  unfriendly  to  republicanism  is 
destructive  to  national  prosperity  ;  and  consequently 
the  papal  intrigues  and  appliances  in  favor  of  absolute- 
ness in  France  destroyed  the  greatness  of  the  nation. 

The  political  security  and  religious  liberty  which 
Henry  IV.  had  secured  to  the  subjects  were  annulled 
by  the  repeal  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  Catholic  in- 


IN  FRANCE. 


287 


tolerance  again  domineered  over  the  lives  and  fortunes 
of  Protestants.     Kings  had  been  taught  by  their  teach- 
ers and  spiritual  guides  that  "  to  dissemble  was  to  reign," 
and  that  "  to  become  a  great  man  it  was  necessary  to 
become  a  great  villain."     The  consequence  was  national 
weakness    and    demoralization.      Mock   treaties    were 
made  to  conceal  real  ones,  and  kings,  to  disguise  their 
intentions,  acted  differently  from  what  they  thought. 
A  succession  of  weak,  bigoted,  tyrannical,  and  criminal 
rulers  had  oppressed  the  industry  of  the  country,  and 
drove  thousands  of  subjects  to  seek  a  livelihood  under 
less  oppressive  government.     Despotic  ministers,  rapa- 
cious  favorites,    intriguing    prostitutes,    foolish    enter- 
prises   absurd    laws,  professed   rakes   in   the   garb  of 
priests    and     cardinals,    prodigality,    corruption     and 
tyranny  withering  the  vitality  of  the  nation,  and  accu- 
mulating on  the  heads  of  the  people  an  insupportable 
load  of  taxation  cind  misery,  were  the  deplorable  results 
of  the   operation  of  the  pope  and  his  political  engine. 
But  while  such  were  the  calamities  which  Catholicism 
was  maturing,  the  eloquent  writings  of  Voltaire,  of  Ros- 
seau,  and  other  liberal  authors  were  awakening  a  spirit 
of  inquiry  in  the  public  mind,  and  preparing  the  way 
for  political    regeneration.     The    smouldering   fires    of 
freedom  which  burned  in  the  breast  of  the  nation,  ren- 
dered the  conflict  between  monarchy  and  republicanism 
inevitable.     It  finally  took   place;  the   majesty  of  the 
people  was   vindicated ;  and,  a  national   assembly  con- 
vened consisting  of  three  hundred  and  seventeen  cler- 
gymen,  three  hundred  and  seventeen  nobles,  and  six 
hundred   and  seventeen  deputies  of  the  people ;  all  of 
whom  took   an   oath  never  to  separate  until  they  had 
given  France  a  free  constitution.    From  the  ruins  of  the 


288  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTEIGUES. 

monarcliy  a  republic  arose  in  majesty  and  power.  The 
feudal  estates  were  abolished  without  indemnifica- 
tion. The  invidious  game  laws,  the  feudal  tribunals, 
the  church  tithes,  the  ecclesiastical  revenues,  the  hered- 
itary descent  of  officers,  the  exemption  of  church  dig- 
nities from  military  taxation,  the  laws  excluding  Pro- 
testants from  offices  of  trust  or  profit,  and  denying  them 
the  right  of  inheriting,  acquiring  or  bequeathing  prop- 
erty, and  all  that  the  toil  of  the  papal  machinery  had 
accumulated  on  the  heads  of  the  people,  were  swept 
away  by  the  spirit  of  liberal  government.  To  obtain 
this  freedom  the  nation  had  poured  out  its  blood.  But 
'the  nation  had  been  educated  in  Catholic  bigotry  and 
intolerance ;  and  now  it  visited  on  the  heads  of  its 
tutors  the  lessons  which  they  had  taught.  The  people 
swept  away  the  despotism  of  the  throne,  but  left  it 
remaining  in  the  national  councils  ;  and,  while  they 
made  a  wreck  of  oppression,  they  preserved  its  elements 
to  be  reconstructed  in  another  form.  It  is  not,  then, 
surprising,  that  hard  as  their  freedom  was  won,  it  was 
so  easily  betrayed  by  the  genius  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
once  its  advocate,  but  always  its  foe ;  who  hated  repub- 
licanism as  much  as  he  hated  papacy,  for  they  both 
were  in  conflict  with  his  designs ;  and  who  loved 
nothing  but  himself  and  supreme  dominion.  But  the 
boon  he  sought  his  ambition  defeated.  While  he  stood 
at  the  height  of  his  fortune,  with  the  conquest  of 
Europe  in  his  grasp,  the  mask  fell  from  his  brow.  The 
confidence  of  freemen  forsook  him  ;  and  his  glory,  which 
else  might  have  outrivalled  the  splendor  of  the  greatest, 
flickered,  grew  dim,  and  soon  vanished  away  ;  leaving 
the  world  as  much  astonished  at  the  obscurity  it  left  as  it 
had  been  at  the  efi'ulgence  it  had  emitted. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTEIOUES   IN     ' 
GERMANY, 

Papal  Intrigues  in  Germany  under  the  reigns  of  Otho 
I — of  Henry  IV, — of  Henry  V. — of  Frederic  I — of 
Frederic  II — of  Conrad  IV. — of  Albert  I — of  Henry 
VII. — of  Louis  of  Bavaria — of  Charles  IV. — ofSigis- 
Tnund — of  Charles  V. — of  Ferdinand  11. — Papal  In- 
irigues  in  Austria — in  Prussia — and  in  the  Nether- 
lands. 

WiTTiKiisrD  the  Great,  King  of  Saxony,  after  a  vigorous 
resistance  for  thirty-three  years  against  the  arms  of 
Charlemagne,  the  confederate  of  the  pope,  submitted  to 
be  baptized  to  spare  the  further  effusion  of  the  blood  of 
his  subjects.  But  in  the  events  of  one  hundred  years, 
the  conquered  became  the  emperors,  and  the  Franks 
were  supplanted  on  the  throne  by  the  Saxons.  Prom 
the  time  that  the  Carlovingian  dynasty  was  established 
until  the  dissolution  of  the  empire  in  1806,  the  secular 
power  had  to  continually  struggle  against  the  intrigues 
and  usurpations  of  the  Papal  See, 

The  pope's  claim  of  being  the  disposer  of  crowns,  and 
the  source  of  secular  power,  acheived  something  of  a 
triumph  in  962,  when  through  a  crafty  policy  the  pon- 
tiff bestowed  the  diadem  on  Otho.  Prom  motives  of 
policy  the  emperor  conceded  the  spiritual  claims  of  the 
pope,  but  prudently  nullified  them  by  placing  him 
25 


290  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

under  his  authority.  While  Otho  acknowledged  that 
he  was  emperor  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  pope,  he 
required  the  latter,  who  was  John  XII.,  to  swear  allegi- 
ance to  him,  and  the  Koman  See  to  enter  into  a  solemn 
agreement  wdth  him  that  henceforth  no  pope  should  be 
chosen  except  in  the  presence  of  a  Germanic  imperial 
commission.  This  judicious  check  on  the  intriguing 
policy  of  the  Papal  See,  was  too  unpleasant  to  be  toler- 
ated longer  than  weakness  made  it  unavoidable.  Pre- 
sumptuous as  false,  Pope  John  XII.  was  led  to  violate 
his  oath  of  allegiance,  and  to  take  up  arms  to  acquire 
inependence  of  secular  authority.  For  this  act  of  per- 
jury, treason,  and  violation  of  a  solemn  treaty — which 
in  a  layman  would  have  been  a  capital  offence,  but  in  a 
priest  was  aggravated  by  the  additional  crime  of  hypoc- 
risy— the  emperor  could  not  do  less  than  depose  him. 

In  the  papal  monarchy  virtue  and  ability  were  sel- 
dom conspicuous,  and  generally  when  either  appeared 
in  its  administration,  it  was  less  the  offspring  of  Cathol- 
icism than  of  the  Germanic  authority.  The  emperors 
of  Germany  were  far  better  men  than  the  popes  of  Eome. 
While  the  first  labored  to  reform  the  church,  the  latter 
did  little  else  than  corrupt  it.  Virtue,  the  foundation 
of  public  order  and  concord,  could  not  but  be  encour- 
aged in  the  subjects  by  a  sagacious  monarch  ;  and  vice, 
the  indulgent  mother  of  fraud  and  imposition,  could  not 
but  be  cultivated  by  a  crafty  and  ambitious  priest.  In 
the  progress  of  the  conduct  of  the  papal  and  the  impe- 
rial policy,  so  mutually  antagonistical,  Henry  III.,  who 
became  Emperor  of  Germany  in  1046,  had  to  depose 
three  popes,  and  to  fill  the  papal  chair  during  his  life 
with  men  of  his  own   choice.     He  also  held  the  papal 


IN  GERMANY.  291 

monarcTiy  under  strict  surveilance,  and  forbade  the  be- 
stowal of  any  spiritual  dignity,  or  the  appropriation  of 
any  church  property  without  his  sanction.  The  whole- 
some effects  of  his  severity  won  commendations  even 
from  those  upon  whom  they  were  most  rigorously  en- 
forced ;  in  proof  of  which  it  may  be  stated  that  the 
clergy  spontaneously  bestowed  on  him  the  title  of  "  The 
Pious,"  which  he  condescended  to  accept. 

In  1056  Henry  IV.  ascended  the  throne  of  Germany. 
The  Papal  See,  iDitterly  groaning  under  the  jealous  re- 
straint which  had  been  imposed  on  it  by  the  secular 
authority,  eagerly  watched,  and  artfully  intrigued  for 
an  opportunity  to  remove  them.  The  impolitic  and  ty- 
rannical conduct  of  Henry  JV.  appeared,  perhaps  in 
its  eye,  as  a  providential  circumstance  designed  to  aid 
the  success  of  its  long  cherished  design.  The  emperor, 
governed  by  the  advice  of  Archbishop  Adelbert,  at- 
tempted, by  building  castles,  and  committing  brutal  and 
violent  acts,  to  rule  his  people  through  the  terror  of  his 
authority.  Neglecting  to  guard  popular  interests,  which 
alone  can  secure  popular  attachment,  his  efforts  to  over- 
awe his  subjects  produced  only  dissatisfaction  and  in- 
surrection. In  an  outburst  of  popular  violence  pro- 
voked by  his  imprudence,  considerable  damage  was 
done  to  some  churches  in  Saxony  and  Thuringia.  These 
disorders  gave  Henry  the  opportunity  of  gratifying  his 
revengeful  feelings  in  accusing  the  inhabitants  before 
the  pope  of  sacrilege,  and  of  entering  their  territory  and 
perpetrating  the  most  barbarous  cruelty.  The  conse- 
quences of  this  proceeding  eventuated  in  such  a  favor- 
able crisis  to  the  papal  designs,  that,  had  the  ablest 
pope   projected   and    engineered   them  they  could  not 


292  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

have  culminated  more  propitiously.     The  injured  and 
exasperated  inhabitants  appealed  to  tho  pope.     Pope 
Gregory  VII.,  having  ascended  the  papal  throne  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  German  court,  eagerly  embraced  a 
cause  which  enabled  him  to  assert  his  claim  claim  to  in- 
dependent sovereignty,  and  supremacy  over  all  secular 
authority.      Fully  aware   that  the  tyranny  of  Henry 
had  deprived  him  of  the  affections  and  support  of  his 
subjects,    he    commanded  the    unpopular  monarch    to 
appear  before  him,  under  pain  of  excommunication.     In 
punishment  for  this  ferocious  w^arrant  the  emperor  sum- 
moned a  council  of  bishops  at  Worms,  and  obliged  them 
to  renounce  their  allegiance  to  Gregory.     This  daring 
act  so  irritated  the  pope  that  he  began  to  lavish,  with  un- 
sparing liberality,  anathemas  on  the  head  of  the  mon- 
arch.    Henry  at  first  treated  this  display  of  arrogated 
divinity  with  scornful  indifference,   but  his  vices  had 
too  much  disembarrassed  the  action  of  the  papal  ma- 
chinery not  to  allow  it  to  disable  his  power  and  revenge. 
His  subjects  disowned  their  allegiance  to  him  ;  his  friends 
deserted  him ;  his  soldiers  disobeyed  his   orders ;  and 
he  found  himself  helplessly  at  the  mercy  of  a  revenge- 
ful and  irritated  priest.     With  a  refinement  of  malice 
that  seems  to  do  credit  to  papal  ingenuity,  at  least,  the 
emperor  w^as  required  to  dress  in  penitential  robes,  for- 
mally to  solicit  for  three  days  an  interview  with  the 
sacerdotal  despot,   and  then   to  promise    unconditional 
obedience  to  him  in  all  things.     But  the  acts  of  tyranny 
carry  with  them  the  seeds  of  retribution.     The  tyrant 
who   could    impose    such   conditions   on    a   fallen   foe, 
could   also   have  been  guilty,    in    the  exercise  of    his 
power,  of  inflicting  injuries  on  his  subjects  which  would 


IN  GERMANY,        '  293 

he  calculated  to  excite  a  disposition  to  revolt  and  retal- 
iation. This  was  precisely  the  case  with  Pope  Gre- 
gory YIL  He  had  oppressed  the  Italian  provinces  to 
such  a  degree  that  the  inhabitants  longed  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  depose  him;  and  now  the  misfortunes  of 
Henry  appearing  to  render  him  an  available  agent  in 
the  accomplishment  of  their  designs,  they  proposed  a 
coalition  with  Mm.  The  pope  becoming  acquainted 
with  this  secret  machination,  set  about  to  counteract  it. 
By  the  operation  of  his  skilful  machinery  he  was  en- 
abled suddenly  to  create  a  conspiracy  in  the  heart  of 
Germany,  for  the  deposition  of  the  emperor ;  but  the 
vigilance  and  valor  of  the  latter  defeated  the  revolu- 
tionary movement.  Having  in  vain  exhausted  all  re- 
sources to  subject  the  incorrigable  monarch  to  his  abso- 
lute authority,  he  now  sought  to  beguile  the  mortifica- 
tion of  his  defeat  by  hurling  anathemas  at  his  obsti- 
nate head.  But  the  temper  of  Henry  not  disposing 
him  to  indulge  the  chagrined  pope  in  insolent  sports, 
summoned  a  council  of  German  and  Italian  bishops  at 
Brixen,  and  by  proving  to  their  satisfaction  that  Pope 
Gregory  VII.  was  a  heretic,  a  sorcerer,  and  had  dealings 
with  the  devil,  effected  his  degradation,  and  placed 
Clement  HI.  in  the  papal  chair. 

The  spirit  and  pretensions  of  Catholicism  are  so  inim- 
ical to  secular  authority  that,  to  whatever  extent  they 
obtain  a  controlling  influence  in  a  government  they  tend 
to  abridge  its  sovereignty,  and  threaten  its  subversion. 
This  tendency,  so  clearly  indicated  by  the  principles  of 
the  papal  monarphy,  and  so  fearfully  illustrated  in 
its  history,  is  incapable  of  being  restrained  by  any  sense 
of  gratitude,  or  by  any  obligation  of  oaths.  A  knowl-^ 
35* 


294  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

edge  of  this  unliappy  truth  will  prevent  surprise  that 
the  munificQiit  favors  which  Henry  bestowed  on  Pope 
Clement  IIL,  in  elevating  him  to  the  papal  dig- 
nity, should  not  have  caused  the  repeal  of  the  anathe- 
mas ond  excommunications  which  had  been  pronounced 
against  him,  nor  arrested  the  papal  machinery  in  its 
insidious  and  treacherous  operations,  in  fostering  the 
elements  of  discord  which  existed  in  the  empire.  No- 
thing but  the  surrender  of  the  principles  of  sovereignty 
will  ever  conciliate  a  pope  to  the  authority  of  a  secular 
government.  The  prudence,  courage,  and  talents  of  the 
king  were  hence  constantly  called  into  requisition  to 
defeat  the  secret  machinations  of  his  enemies.  His 
eldest  son  was  instigated  to  rebel  against  him.  After 
he  had  subdued  him,  his  second  son,  whom  he  had 
crowned  as  his  successor,  obliged  him  to  surrender  into 
his  hands  the  imperial  authority.  By  the  implacable 
revenge  of  the  Papal  See,  operating  through  its  varied 
machinery,  he  was  deprived  of  power,  reduced  to  scorn 
and  neglect,  and  after  it  had  murdered  him  by  degrees, 
prohibited  the  interment  of  his  anathematized  corpse 
in  consecrated  ground. 

After  Henry  V.,  in  1106,  had  wrung  from  his  father's 
hand  the  imperial  sceptre,  he  sought  to  have  this  atro- 
cious act  sanctified  in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects  by  being 
crowned  at  Pome  by  the  pope — Paschal  II.  This 
sanction  of  unfilial  conduct  the  pope  was  willing  to  ac- 
cord ;  but  as  it  seemed  to  present  an  opportunity  for 
making  a  good  speculation,  he  exacted,  as  the  only  con- 
dition on  which  the  favor  could  be  granted,  a  conces- 
sion to  the  Holy  See  of  all  the  rights  and  2:)rivileges 
which  had  been  claimed  for  it  by  Pope  Gregory  VII. 


IN    GERMANY.  295 

This  proposition  startled  Henry ;  he  saw  the  ambitious 
designs  of  the  pope,  and  he  felt  the  importance  of  check- 
ing them.  Boldly  denying  the  papal  pretensions,  and 
rejecting  with  indignant  contempt  the  proposition  of 
Paschal,  he  marched  his  army  on  Rome,  dragged  the 
pope  from  the  altar  while  he  was  celebrating  mass,  and 
casting  him  into  prison,  determined  that  he  should 
there  remain  until  he  consented  to  crown  him  without 
any  condition.  To  be  restored  to  liberty  and  luxury 
the  pope  acceded  to  all  the  terms  dictated  to  him  by 
the  emperor,  but  with  a  secret  disposition  to  render 
them  nugatory  at  the  first  opportunity.  Disturbances 
occurring  in  Germany,  the  pope  was  agreeably  relieved 
of  the  embarrassing  restraints  of  the  emperor's  pres- 
ence. To  suppress  the  Germanic  revolution  the  skill 
and  valor  of  Henry  was  occupied  for  two  years.  In 
the  meantime  the  pope,  in  order  to  nullify  the  conces- 
sions which  he  had  made,  organized  an  Italian  conspi- 
racy against  the  emperor.  Soon  as  Henry  had  quelled 
the  insubordination  in  Germany,  he  therefore  returned 
to  Italy  to  punish  the  author  of  the  calamities  of  his 
reign.  But  Pope  Paschal  evaded  the  designed  chas- 
tisement by  absconding  to  Apulea,  where  he  shortly  af- 
terwards died. 

Pope  Galatius  II.,  an  enemy  of  Henry,  having  ob- 
tained the  papal  dignity,  the  latter  deposed  him, 
and  caused  Bourden,  under  the  name  of  Gregory 
VIIL,  to  be  substituted  in  his  place.  The  deposed 
pope  and  his  cardinals,  having  the  control  of  the  papal 
machinery,  were  enabled  to  oppose,  with  great  success, 
the  policy  of  Henry  in  every  part  of  his  dominion, 
Galatius  assembled  a  council  of  bishops  at  Vienna  and 


296  PAPAL    POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

excommunicated  him;  Calaxtus  II.  convened  one  at 
Kheims,  and  repeated  the  sentence  ;  the  nobles  broke 
out  in  frequent  rebellion ;  and  finally  such  insubordi- 
nation prevailed  in  the  empire,  and  such  violent  out- 
bursts so  frequently  disturbed  the  public  peace,  that 
in  order  to  restore  tranquillity  Henry  was  compelled  to 
subscribe  to  a  concordat  at  Worms,  in  which  he  re- 
nounced the  right  of  investiture,  and  to  any  interfer- 
ence in  the  consecration  of  bishops. 

Frederic  I.  succeeded  to  the  imperial  throne  in  1152. 
The  increasing  opulence  and  power  of  the  Italian  and 
Lombardine  cities  owing  allegience  to  Germanic  author- 
ity, the  ambitious  aspirations  of  the  Papal  See  for 
illimitable  dominion,  and  the  insidious  operations  of 
its  machinery  in  producing  public  taste  and  opinion  in 
harmony  with  its  desires,  had,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  Frederic  I.,  produced  revolts  and  usurpations 
in  Lombardy  and  Italy,  which  obliged  the  emperor  to 
visit  and  chastise  the  insurrectionary  districts.  Pope 
Alexander  III.,  the  chief  source  of  the  public  discord, 
fled  on  the  approach  of  Frederic  to  France,  and 
excommunicated  him.  A  league  was  then  formed  be- 
tween the  pope,  Venice,  and  the  Greek  empire  against 
Frederic ;  and  for  twenty  years  the  calamities  of  war 
were  protracted.  The  cruelty  which  the  emperor  had 
exercised  towards  the  rebellious  cities  created  a  des- 
perate opposition  to  his  authority,  and  exercised  an 
important  influence  in  stimulating  the  valor  and  energy 
of  the  people,  by  which  their  freedom  was  finally 
achieved  in  the  treaty  of  Venice  in  1177. 

The  spiritual  and  temporal  crown  of  the  world  which 
the  Koman   See  attempted  to  manufacture   out  of  the 


IN    GERMANY.  ~  297 

fishhooks  of  St.  Peter,  however  visionary  it  might  orig- 
inally have  appeared,  assumed  in  the  progress  of  the 
papal  political  intrigues,  the  appearance  of  a  stubborn, 
formidable  and  frightful  reality.  With  the  profound 
policy  which  it  elaborated,  and  the  systematic  course  of 
measures  which  it  adopted,  accommodated  to  all  exi- 
gencies and  pursued  through  all  periods,  and  at  all 
places;  with  its  machinery  ramifying  the  political,  so- 
cial, and  literary  institutions  of  Christendom  ;  with  its 
confessors  transmitting  to  Rome  every  important  fact ; 
with  its  inquisition  extorting  from  victims  an  admis- 
sion of  every  false  charge  of  which  ecclesiastical  interests 
required  the  establishment ;  with  its  preachers  and  spir- 
itual guides  manufacturing,  private  and  public  opinion 
suitable  to  its  demands  by  perverted  facts  and  false  state- 
ments ;  and  with  its  army  of  monks,  knights,  sycophant 
princes,  servile  kings,  and  deluded  devotees  ;  it  had  at 
the  period  of  Pope  Innocent  III.  subjugated  Christen- 
dom under  its  despotic  authority.  During  the  progress 
of  its  aggressive  course  the  voice  of  reason  and  patri- 
otism had  often  lifted  up  remonstrances  against  its 
advancement ;  but  the  eloquent  tones  died  away  un- 
heeded amid  the  clamorous  chaunts  of  superstitious 
rites.  But  now,  after  supineness  had  allowed  it  to  amass 
supreme  and  despotic  power,  and  fortify  itself  by  every 
means  of  defence,  the  antagonism  of  the  people  began 
to  be  energetically  manifested.  It  is  the  fate  of  des- 
potism of  every  form,  when  it  has  developed  the  full 
strength  of  its  all-blasting  power,  to  awaken  another 
power  destined  to  trample  it  in  the  dust.  That  power 
is  the  strength  which  slumbers  in  the  popular  arm. 
When  the  papal  despotism  was  no  more  a  pretension, 


298  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

but  a  fact,  when  it  stood  distinctly  before  the  world 
clotted  with  the  blood  of  generations,  surrounded  by 
broken  sceptres  and  crushed  thrones,  with  its  feet  on  the 
neck  of  kings  and  people,  and  its  usurping  hand  grasping 
at  the  crowns  of  earth,  heaven  and  hell,  a  murmur  of 
horror  broke  from  the  lips  of  the  world.  Then  learn- 
ing began  to  scoff  at  its  claims,  research  to  expose  its 
frauds,  wit  to  ridicule  its  pretensions ;  and  then  religious 
liberty,  through  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses  uttered 
that  memorable  peal,  which  is  destined  to  reverberate 
as  an  undying  tone  through  all  future  ages.  Then  arose 
the  free  cities  from  their  long  degradation,  and  began 
to  perfect  their  internal  organizations  by  the  establish- 
ment of  corporations  ;  then  appeared  the  first  universi- 
ties, arousing  the  dormant  spirit  of  free  inquiry  and 
investigation  ;  then  the  abrogation  of  the  system  of 
violence  began  to  restore  public  security  ;  and  then  the 
separate  members  of  the  empire  began  to  be  assembled 
and  deliberate  on  public  affairs,  originating  the  principle 
of  the  provincial  diets. 

Frederic  II.,  son  of  the  emperor  Henry  VI.,  was 
born  at  this  illustrious  period  of  German  history. 
Philip,  Duke  of  Suabia,  was  nominated  regent  during 
Frederic's  minority,  but  the  pope,  wishing  a  more  pli- 
ant instrument,  substituted  Berthold.  Finding  this 
scheme  impracticable  he  recommended  Otho,  and  Philip 
being  murdered,  the  papal  policy  succeeded.  But  the 
pope  soon  found  that  his  intrigue  had  vested  with  power 
a  mortal  foe  to  the  Papal  See.  For  Otho  clearly  mani- 
fested a  design  of  not  only  wresting  Sicily  from  Fred- 
eric, which  the  latter  inherited  from  his  mother,  princess 
of  Constance,  but  of  establishing  the  authority  of  Ger- 


IN  GERMANY  299 

many  over  certain  possessions  of  Italy  wliicli  it  claimed 
as  an  inheritance.  To  counteract  the  mistake  of  his  policy 
the  pope  took  Frederic  under  his  protectson,  and  called 
into  requisition  all  the  power  of  his  machinery.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years  he  crowned  his  protege  Empe- 
ror of  Germany  ;  but  in  order  to  bind  him  to  his  inter- 
ests he  exacted  a  coronation  oath  that  he  would  under- 
take a  crusade  in  behalf  of  the  church.  Frederic,  enjoy- 
ing the  favor  and  influence  of  the  pope,  and  the  advan- 
tageous co-operation  of  his  machinery,  soon  defeated 
Otho,  and  became  sole  sovereign  of  the  empire. 

With  a  grasp  of  intellect,  and  versatility  of  talent 
that  rarely  have  sprung  from  a  royal  cradle,  Frederic 
II.  elaborated  projects  which,  although  they  transcended 
the  liberality  and  enlightenment  of  his  age,  yet  laid 
the  foundation  for  their  development  in  a  future  period. 
The  possession  of  the  German  and  Sicilian  crowns  led 
him  to  hope  that  he  would  be  able  to  repress  the  power- 
ful hierarchy  of  Rome,  and  reduce  the  pope  to  the  dig- 
nity of  a  bishop.  Impressed  with  the  importance  of 
this  object,  and  the  difficulty  of  its  accomplishment,  he 
slowly  and  cautiously  removed  obstacle  after  obstacle, 
and  selected  the  elements  for  his  great  enterprise.  As 
a  preliminary  measute  he  caused  his  son  to  be  crowned 
King  of  Rome.  This  act  alarmed  the  jealousy  of  Pope 
Honorious  III.,  who  desired  to  be  acquainted  with  the 
motive  of  it.  The  emperor  replied  that  his  coronation 
oath  required  him  to  undertake  a  crusade,  and  the 
fulfilment  of  it  rendered  it  necessary  to  invest  his 
son  with  regal  authority.  However  ungratifying  this 
reasoning  was  to  the  pope,  he  could  not  refute  it,  and 
as  the  emperor  promised  to  deal  severely  with  the  her- 


300  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

etics,  and  to  exclude  them  from  offices  of  trust  or  profit, 
lie  became  greatly  pacified.  In  maturing  his  measures 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Italian  empire,  the  emperor 
procrastinated  for  twelve  years  the  fulfilment  of  his  un- 
dertaking, a  crusade ;  and  though  the  pope  frequently 
reminded  him  of  the  solemnity  of  his  obligation,  yet  his 
apologies  were  so  plausible  that  they  seemed  fully  to 
justify  the  delay.  The  inexplicable  mystery  of  Fred- 
eric's conduct,  however,  excited  the  apprehensions  of 
Pope  Gregory  IX. — and  to  get  rid  of  his  presence 
in  Europe  he  j)eremptorily  demanded  that  he  should 
undertake  the  promised  crusade.  With  a  show  of  obe- 
dience to  the  pope's  injunction,  he  commenced  prepar- 
ing for  the  enterprise,  but  upon  such  an  extensive  scale, 
and  so  interruptedly  and  slowly  that  it  damped  the 
fire,  consumed  the  provisions,  and  thinned  the  ranks  of 
the  pilgrims.  At  length  he  set  sail  with  his  fleet,  but 
becoming  indisposed  after  three  days'  voyage  returned 
home.  The  return  of  his  formidable  army  alarmed 
the  fears  of  the  pope,  who  appears  to  have  equally 
dreaded  the  success  of  his  arms  abroad  and  of  his  pres- 
ence at  home.  Adopting  the  customary  policy  of  the 
popes  in  their  emergency,  he  endeavored  to  embarrass 
the  designs  of  Frederic  by  pronouncing  sentence  of 
excommunication  on  him,  and  suspending  all  religious 
services  in  his  dominions.  The  justice  of  this  sentence 
being  attempted  to  be  supported  by  the  failure  of  the 
emperor  to  fulfil  his  coronation  oath,  Frederic  endea- 
vored to  nullify  it,  if  not  in  the  eyes  of  the  pope,  yet 
in  those  of  the  people,  by  undertaking  a  vigorous  cru- 
sade. But  the  infallible  pope  who  had  excommunicated 
him  for  not  becoming  a  crusader,  now  excommunicated 


IN   GEBMANY.  301- 

him  for  becoming  one.  During  the  emperor's  absence 
the  pope  preached  a  crusade  against  him  in  his  own  do- 
minions, organized  a  conspiracy  against  him,  and  devas- 
tated his  empire  with  his  own  troops.  That  he  might 
weaken  the  power  and  popuh\rity  of  the  emperor 
abroad,  he  ordered  the  bishops  and  knights  of  the  army 
of  the  cross  in  Palestine  to  dispute  his  command  and 
oppose  his  designs.  But  the  remarkable  genius  of 
Frederic,  undaunted  by  difficulties,  and  unimpressible 
by  discouragement  and  reverses,  made  him  victorious, 
as  well  over  the  arms  of  the  Turks  as  over  the  intrigues 
of  the  pope.  He  entered  Jerusalem  in  triumph ;  and, 
not  finding  a  bishop  who  would  incur  the  papal  ana- 
themas by  crowning  him,  he  performed  the  ceremony 
himself.  The  success  of  Frederic  filled  Christendom 
with  joy,  but  the  pope  with  indignation.  He  declared 
every  church  into  which  he  entered  profaned ;  inter- 
dicted the  celebration  of  divine  w^orship  in  Jerusalem ; 
and  such  was  his  influence  with  the  chivalrous  knight- 
hood, that  among  its  members  were  found  persons  base 
enough  to  secretly  inform  the  Sultan  how  he  might  dis- 
pose of  his  victor,  by  assassination,  in  his  customary 
visits  to  the  river  Jordan.  But  the  magnanimity  of  the 
Sultan  rejected  the  proposition  with  contempt,  and 
communicated  the  matter  to  the  emperor  to  place  him 
on  his  guard. 

While  Frederic  exacted  from  the  pope  what  justice 
and  self  respect  demanded,  he  was  so  far  from  being 
disposed  to  treat  him  with  unnecessary  rigor  that,  when 
his  vices  and  tyranny  had  excited  his  subjects  into  a  re- 
bellion, he  interposed  in  his  behalf  and  restored  tranquil- 
lity. An  act  so  generous  in  the  emperor  should  have 
26 


302  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

awakened  in  the  pope  an  equal  degree  of  magnanimity, 
but  so  far  was  he  incapable  of  any  sense  of  gratitude, 
that  he  instigated  the  emperor's  son  to  conspire  against 
him,  and  assured  him  of  the  assistance  of  the  Lom- 
bards. This  conspiracy  was  detected,  and  defeated 
in  its  bud  ;  and,  the  emperor  regarding  his  son  more  as 
the  victim  of  sacerdotal  craft  than  as  a  real  foe  to  his 
authority,  pardoned  his  disloyalty.  The  sense  of  grati- 
tude naturally  arising  from  this  act  of  clemency, 
added  to  the  weight  of  filial  affection,  should  have 
been  sufficient  to  form  a  disposition  which  would 
have  subjected  the  son  to  the  most  affectionate  subor- 
dination to  the  father.  But  the  dispensations  and 
absolutions  with  which  the  church  pretends  to  nullify 
social  and  civil  obligations,  unhappily  interfered  with 
the  natural  instincts  of  the  son's  mind,  and  led  him  to 
add  to  the  guilt  of  his  treason,  the  ignominy  of  attempt- 
ing to  assassinate  his  father.  This  atrocious  act  can- 
celling every  obligation  of  nature,  would  have  justified 
the  emperor  in  proceeding  to  extremes  ;  but  his  native 
magnanimity  prevailed,  and  he  sentenced  his  son  to  per- 
petual banishment. 

The  success  of  the  policy  of  Frederic  comprehended 
a  union  of  the  hostile  elements  of  his  southern  territory, 
the  subjugation  of  the  Germanic  aristocracy,  and  of  the 
Italian  cities  in  alliance  with  the  pope.  Preparatory  to 
the  execution  of  this  policy  he  made  some  conquests  in 
Lombardy  These  successes  excited  the  revenge  of  the 
pope,  who  accordingly  visited  on  his  head  another 
excommunication.  But  the  Vatican  thunder  was 
allowed  to  roll  on,  as  amid  its  music  the  emperor 
marched  on  from  victory  to  victory.     At  length,  in  the 


IN  GERMANY.  303 

development  of  the  policy  of  Frederic,  the  time  arrived 
for  striking  a  decisive  blow  at  the  heart  of  the  public 
disorder.  By  a  sudden  movement  he  entered  the  papal 
dominions.  The  pope  trembled  on  his  throne.  He  saw 
his  monarchy  at  the  mercy  of  an  emperor,  whom  he  had 
anathematized,  whose  son  he  had  taught  to  rebel,  whose 
subjects  he  had  corrupted,  and  whose  downfall  he  had 
labored  to  effect.  The  consummation  of  the  policy  of 
Frederic  was  in  his  grasp  ;  but  the  magnificent  prospect 
which  skill  and  valor  had  obtained,  superstition  blasted. 
Having  some  reverence  for  the  office,  though  none  for 
the  character  of  the  pope,  and  conscious  of  the  powerful 
influence  it  wielded  over  the  superstitious,  he  ventured 
to  listen  to  the  papal  monarch,  who  professed  a  willing- 
ness to  concede  all  his  demands,  but  proposed  that  they 
should  first  be  sanctioned  by  a  council  of  the  bishops  of 
the  church.  The  emperor  soon  perceived,  but  too  late, 
that  this  specious  proposition  was  but  a  popish  device. 
The  preliminaries  for  holding  the  proposed  council 
established  the  fact,  that  the  pope  intended  to  have  it 
chiefly  composed  of  the  most  inveterate  enemies  of  the 
emperor  ;  in  fact  none  but  such  were  invited  to  partici- 
pate in  its  proceedings.  Frederic  felt  justified,  there- 
fore, in  forbidding  the  convention  to  assemble.  As  his 
prohibition  was  disregarded,  he  intercepted  a  Genoese 
fleet  of  one  hundred  bishops,  and  brought  them  captive 
to  Naples.  This  manoeuvre  broke  up  the  council,  and 
perhaps  broke  the  pope's  heart,  as  he  shortly  afterwards 
died. 

Cardinal  Fiesco,  a  warm  friend  of  the  emperor,  be- 
came Pope  Innocent  IV. ;  but  the  dignity  of  pope 
making  him  regard  the  emj)eror  as  hostile  to  his  mon- 


304  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

archial  pretensions,  converted  His  former  friendsiiip  into 
bitter  annimosity.  Returning  to  Lyons,  lie  confirmed 
all  the  aathemas  that  had  been  pronounced  against 
Frederic,  and  summoned  him  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  a 
grand  council  to  be  convened  at  that  place.  In  the 
proceedings  of  this  council  the  most  ridiculous  and 
groundless  charges  were  preferred  against  Frederic,  and 
though  completely  refuted  by  his  deputies,  yet  as  the 
proceedure  was  merely  the  semblance  of  a  judicial  trial, 
to  sanction  preconcerted  malice  and  revenge  by  forms 
of  lagality,  the  council  did  not  hesitate  to  declare 
him  guilty,  any  proof  of  innocence  to  the  contrary, 
It  seems  to  have  concentrated  its  ingenuity  in  devising 
new  and  unheardof  methods  to  give  terrific  importance 
to  the  ventilation  of  its  hate.  An  anathema  was  pro- 
nounced on  the  body  and  soal  of  the  emperor,  and  on 
all  his  interests,  friends  and  allies.  While  pronouncing 
these  religious  curses,  the  priests,  like  fiends  administer- 
ing at  some  infernal  ceremonies,  held  in  their  hands 
lighted  torches,  and  upon  its  conclusion  suddenly  ex- 
tinguished them  ;  and  by  the  theatrical  trick  of  uttering 
discordant  shrieks  and  howls,  seemed  in  the  daikness  of 
the  cathedral  to  have  converted  the  holy  place  into  the 
lower  regions,  peopled  with  the  arch-fiend  and  his 
agents.  Though  these  artistical  elaborations  were  not 
without  some  effect,  yet  the  vigor  of  the  emperor's 
genius,  the  magnanimity  which  he  constantly  displayed, 
his  vast  popularity,  and  the  triumph  of  his  arms — which 
continued  to  his  death — deinonstrated  to  the  intelligent 
that  there  was  no  real  curse  in  the  papal  anathemas. 

Conrad  IV.,  son   of  Frederic   II.,  became  emperor  of 
Germany  in  1250.     Innocent  IV,,  whose  policy  it  was 


IN   GERMANY.  305 

to  profess  any  friendship,  and  violate  any  obligation 
that  contributed  to  his  interests,  determined  to  com- 
plete on  the  son  the  vengeance  he  had  commenced  on 
the  father.  Presumptuous  as  vindictive  he  declared 
that  inasmuch  as  Frederic  II.  had  been  excommun- 
icated, his  son  could  not  inherit  the  throne.  On  the 
ground  of  this  ridiculous  pretext,  he  pronounced  him 
dispossessed  of  all  his  inheritance ;  laid  on  him  an  in- 
terdict ;  and  persecuted  him  by  all  the  means  which  his 
power  and  influence  afforded.  But  notwithstanding 
a  revengeful  pope,  whose  malice  through  his  machinery 
operated  everywhere,  yet,  he  had  more  than  his  equal 
to  contend  with.  The  courage  and  heroism  of  Conrad 
defeated  the  papal  army,  kept  the  pope's  allies  in  check, 
and  was  about  to  enter  Lombardy  with  the  fairest  pros- 
pects of  success  when  his  illegitimate  brother,  by  admin- 
istering poison  to  him,  relieved  the  pope  of  a  formidable 
adversary. 

Conradin,  son  of  Conrad  IV.,  the  last  of  the  noble 
house  of  Hohenstaufen,  was  the  heir  to  the  throne. 
The  pope  refused  to  acknowledge  his  right  to  succes- 
sion, because  his  father  had  been  excommunicated.  He 
declared  also  that  Conradin  had  forfeited  his  right  of 
inheritance  to  the  crown  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  un- 
dertook to  bestow  it  on  Charles  of  Anjou.  But  Conradin 
entered  Italy  and  defeated  the  usurper;  but  while  he 
was  pursuing  the  flying  enemy  with  too  much  reckless- 
ness, he  was  captured  by  the  vanquished.  The  world 
expected  that  his  youth  and  valor  could  not  but  win 
compassion  even  from  the  iron-hearted  j^ope,  but  the  in- 
tense hatred  of  the  papal  monarch  to  the  noble  house 
of  which  this  intrepid  lad  was  the  last  scion,  would  not 
26* 


306  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTHIGUES 

permit  him  to  allow  an  opportunity  to  escape  of  extin- 
guishing it  forever.  Conradin  was  therefore,  though 
but  sixteen  years  old,  publicly  executed  as  a  criminal ; 
but  his  heroism,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  he 
met  death,  crowned  his  memory  with  immortal  honor, 
while  it  cast  a  deeper  tinge  of  ignominy  on  the  already 
blackened  character  of  the  pope. 

The  usurpation  of  territory,  and  interference  in 
political  affairs,  which  are  so  strongly  characteristic 
of  the  papal  policy,  originate  from  the  consti- 
tutional principles  of  the  Roman  See.  In  conformity 
with  them  Pope  Boniface  VIII.  proclaimed  him- 
self King  of  Rome ;  and  declared  that  the  Roman 
See  was  the  source  whence  the  Germanic  electors 
derived  their  rights.  Albert  I.  being  chosen  em- 
peror by  the  electors  in  1298,  was  summoned  by  the 
pope  to  appear  before  him  and  apologize  for  having  ac- 
cepted the  crown  without  consulting  his  pleasure,  and 
to  expiate  the  guilt  of  his  offence  by  the  performance 
of  such  penance  as  should  be  prescribed.  To  en- 
force compliance  with  this  injunction  the  pope  formed 
an  allegiance  with  the  archbishop  of  Mentz,  a  powerful 
military  bishop,  and  a  former  friend  of  Albert.  To  re- 
sist the  belligerent  pope  Albert  effected  an  alliance  with 
Philip  la  Belle,  of  France.  Making  a  sudden  diversion 
into  the  electorate  of  Mentz,  Albert  obliged  the  bishop 
to  form  a  league  with  him  for  five  years.  The  pope 
then  suggested  peaceful  negotiation  rather  than  disas- 
trous war.  It  was  finally  agreed  between  the  two  con- 
tracting.parties  that  the  pope  should  give  to  Albert  the 
possessions  of  his  ally,  and  that  Albert  should  acknowl- 
edge that  the  western  empire  was  a  grant  as  a  fief  from 


IN   GERMANY.  307 

the  pope,  that  the  electors  derived  their  right  from  the 
Roman  See,  and  that  he  would  defend  the  papal  inter- 
ests with  his  arms.  The  pope  then  proceeded,  by  vir- 
tue of  an  excommunication,  to  invalidate  the  title  of 
Louis  la  Belle,  of  France,  to  his  kingdom,  and  officially 
to  transfer  it  to  Albert  I. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  YII.,  who  became  empe- 
ror of  Germany  in  1308,  the  tyranny  and  ambition  of 
the  pope  were  held  in  decent  check,  and  the  Papal  See 
was  unusually  quiet  and  respectable.  The  emperor, 
whom  the  pope  hated,  but  whom  he  dared  not  anathe- 
matize, v/as  finally  removed  by  poison  administered  in 
the  sacramental  wine,  by  Moltipulcian,  a  Dominican 
monk.  Soon  as  this  event  occurred  the  pope's  ven- 
geance, which  had  been  accumulating  in  fury  for  years, 
bat  which  was  too  much  overawed  to  utter  a  murmur, 
now  burst  forth  with  the  most  impetuous  and  indecent 
violence  in  anathemas  on  the  soul,  the  corpse,  the  coffin, 
and  the  tomb  of  the  dead  emperor ;  but  it  is  not  sup- 
posed that  they  done  any  damage,  except  to  the  charac- 
ter and  good  sense  of  the  Roman  See. 

Louis  IV.,  of  Bavaria,  became  emperor  of  Germany 
in  1330,  To  arrest  the  encroachments  of  the  Papal  See 
on  the  rights  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  empire,  the  diet 
of  Reuse  framed  a  constitution,  in  1338,  which  provided 
that  the  choice  of  the  electors  of  the  union  should  be 
final  in  its  decision,  and  independent  of  the  Pope  of 
Rome.  These  patriotic  proceedings  seemed  to  the  pope 
to  be  interfering  with  his  rights ;  and  John  XXI.  ac- 
cordingly prohibited  the  performance  of  divine  worship 
in  the  empire,  until  the  obnoxious  constitution  should 
be  aanulled.     But  Louis  soon  repaired  this  calamity  by 


30S  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

the  creation  of  Pope  Nicholas  V.,  who,  having  equal 
authority  with  Pope  John  XXL,  nullified  all  his  acts. 
Pope  Clement  VII.,  who  succeeded  to  the  papal  throne 
in  1342,  excommunicated  Louis,  and  by  his  intrigues 
caused  five  electors  to  declare  in  favor  of  Charles  of 
Luxemburg.*  This  violation  of  the  celebrated  constitu- 
tion of  1338  induced  ihree  electors  to  assemble  at 
Lahstein,  and  declare  the  choice  of  Charles  null  and 
void ;  and  as  Louis  had  died,  they  elected  Edward  of 
England,  but  he  declining,  they  elected  Frederic  the 
Severe ;  he  also  declining,  the  crown  was  finally  settled 
on  Gunter  of  Schwarzburg.  But  Gunter  being  removed 
by  poison,  the  papal  policy  triumphed  in  the  coronation 
of  Charles  of  Luxemburg. 

Charles  IV.,  in  1346,  wishing  to  be  crowned  by  the 
pope  at  Eome,  visited  Italy  to  negotiate  for  that  favor. 
Pope  Innocent  VL,  always  inclined  to  make  the  vanity 
and  ambition  of  his  subjects  administer  to  his  aggran- 
dizement, signified  a  disposition  to  accommodate  the  em- 
peror, but  on  such  disgraceful  conditions  that,  by 
accepting  them  he  subjected  himself  to  the  scorn 
and  derision  of  the  world.  This  self-degradation  was 
much  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  many  distinguished 
Komans,  oppressed  by  the  papal  administration,  united 
in  requesting  Charles  to  claim  the  city  of  Pome  as  a  por- 
tion of  his  empire.  Instead  of  improving  this  opportunity 
to  extend  the  limits  of  his  government,  he  renounced 
all  rights,  not  only  to  the  city  of  Eome,  but  to  the  States 
of  the  Church,  to  Naples,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Cor- 
sica. He  also  consented  to  impose  a  tax  on  the  empire 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Papal  See,  equal  to  one-tenth  of 
the  ecclesiastical  revenues ;  and  further  added  to  his 


IN   GERMANY.  309 

disgrace  by  taking  an  oatli  never  to  enter  Italy  without 
the  pope's  sanction.  For  this  base  sycophancy  he  was 
assailed  by  princes  and  people  with  a  storm  of  indigna- 
tion. To  allay  the  fury  of  this  tempest  he  announced 
an  intention  of  convening  a  council  for  the  reformation 
of  the  clergy,  and  for  making  liberal  concessions  to  the 
popular  demands.  But  this  attempt  to  calm  the  people 
aroused  the  indignation  of  the  Papal  See.  The  pope 
exhorted  the  electors  to  depose  him  instantly.  Assailed 
on  all  sides,  dangers  thickening  around  him  from  all 
quarters,  but  dreading  less  the  indignation  of  the  em- 
pire than  the  anathema  of  the  Roman  See,  he  yielded 
to  the  dictation  of  the  pope,  and  confirmed  the  clergy 
in  all  their  privileges,  sanctioned  all  their  abuses,  pro- 
tected them  in  all  their  possessions,  and  made  them  en- 
tirely independent  of  the  secular  power. 

The  papal  power,  at  the  period  of  Frederic  II., 
seemed  to  tremble  on  the  verge  of  inevitable  de- 
struction ;  but  by  a  profound  and  unscrupulous  policy, 
and  a  system  of  crafty  intrigues,  aided  by  a  political 
machinery  whose  various  parts  ramified  every  portion 
of  the  empire,  and  acted  in  concert  through  all  ages  and 
dynasties,  it  had  steadily  carried  its  advancements 
through  the  blood  of  millions  and  the  ruins  of  thrones, 
until,  at  the  time  of  Charles, it  had  regained  its  supremacy 
in  the  empire  ;  and  dictated  treaties  to  the  emperors, 
measures  to  the  diets,  and  laws  to  the  people.  A  power 
that  could  at  its  option  excite  or  quell  a  popular  out- 
burst, create  or  destroy  a  dynasty,  might  be  an  object 
of  terror  to  people  and  princes,  but  never  an  object  of 
reverence.  The  dread  it  cast  on  the  mind  was  always 
unpleasant,  and  in  proportion  as  its  power  became  op- 


310  I'APAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

pressive  and  disadvantageous,  opposition  and  resistance 
were  inevitably  excited.  The  love  of  independence, 
the  native  individualism  of  the  Germanic  character, 
was  ahvays  a  mortal  foe  to  papal  despotism.  It  might 
be  cowered  into  silence,  but  it  still  grew  in  vigor,  be- 
came more  impatient  as  the  pope  became  more  despotic, 
and  bolder  as  it  became  more  conscious  of  its  numeri- 
cal strength.  This  spirit,  in  1411,  when  Sigismund  be- 
came Emperor  of  Germany,  displayed  an  energy  pro- 
phetic of  stirring  events  and  important  consequences. 
The  spirit  of  Germanic  individualism  led  distinguished 
men  of  the  nation  to  deny,  with  emphatic  boldness,  the 
pretensions  of  the  pope  ;  to  denounce  the  profligacy  of 
the  clergy  ;  and  to  demand  in  the  body  and  head  of 
the  church  a  thorough  reformation.  Prominent  among 
the  apostles  of  religious  freedom,  which  rose  into  con- 
sequence at  that  time,  was  John  Huss,  and  his  disciples. 
The  success  of  these  reformers  excited  and  alarmed  the 
pope.  Hating  any  semblance  of  a  right  to  participate 
in  his  authority,  or  to  assume  any  approach  to  an 
equality  with  him,  he  was  strongly  averse  to  the  assembl- 
ing of  a  deliberative  council;  but  conscious  that  his 
divine  attributes  and  prerogatives  were  not  adequate 
to  the  existing  emergency,  he  consented  that  the  Coun- 
cil of  Constance  should  be  called,  on  condition  that  it 
should  adopt  the  most  energetic  means  for  the  extirpa- 
tion of  the  heretics.  With  the  secret  design  of  betry- 
ing  the  amiable  reformer,  John  Huss,  he  was  invited  to 
respond  in  jjerson  to  a  summons  of  the  council.  To 
quiet  his  apprehensions  of  danger,  the  emperor  fur- 
nished him  with  a  safe  conduct,  and  the  pope  pledged 
his  honor  to  protect  him  from  harm.     Thus  guarded  by 


IN  GEBMANY.  311 

the  honor  of  the  state  and  the  church,  he  was,  notwith- 
standing, perfidionsly  betrayed,  and  condemned  to  be 
burnt  alive.  The  perfidy  of  the  infallible  pope  is  justi- 
fied by  the  saints  and  authorities  of  the  Catholic  church, 
on  the  ground  that  no  pledge,  assurance,  or  oath,  can 
rightfully  protect  a  heretic  from  punishment.  Sigis- 
mund  attended  the  horrid  ceremonies ;  and  being  re- 
minded by  a  by-stander  that  the  course  of  the  wind 
might  bear  an  offensive  effluvia  to  the  position  he  occu- 
pied, answered  :  "  The  odor  of  a  burning  heretic  can 
never  be  offensive  to  Sigismund." 

The  death  of  John  Huss  was  terribly  revenged.  The 
stake  became  the  watchword  of  union.  The  hitherto  mild 
and  submissive  reformers  became  desperate  revengers. 
Churches  and  convents  were  burnt ;  monks  and  priests 
slaughtered  without  mercy.  The  insurgents  met  and 
defeated  the  imperial  forces.  The  strongest  armies  of 
the  cross  withered  before  their  ferocity.  For  fifteen 
years  they  devastated  the  Papal  dominions,  and  shook 
the  government  with  the  violence  of  their  retribution. 
Seeing  it  impossible  to  restrain  their  rage,  Sigismund 
obliged  the  Council  of  Basle  to  negotiate  with  them  for 
the  adjustment  of  their  difficulties.  This  politic  mea- 
sure so  incensed  Pope  Eugenius  IV.,  whose  uncompro- 
mising vengeance  longed  for  the  extermination  of  every 
opponent  to  papal  despotism,  that  he  ordered  his  legates 
to  dissolve  the  obnoxious  assembly.  But  the  laity  had 
advanced  in  liberality  and  knowledge  far  beyond  the 
possible  attainment  of  a  papal  despot,  and  in  defiance 
of  his  maledictions  and  intrigues,  continued  their  useful 
session,  and  terminated,  by  peaceful  concessions,  the 
war  with  the  Hussites, 


312  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

The  grand  struggle  between  religious  freedom  and 
Catholic  despotism  was  visibly  approaching  when  Char- 
les v.,  King  of  Spain,  in  1519  became  Emperor  of 
Germany.  His  design  was  to  conquer  the  world,  and 
his  policy  was  to  unite  all  parties  in  augmenting  the 
national  strength.  To  secure  the  favor  of  the  pope,  and 
the  co-operation  of  his  extensive  and  eifective  machin- 
ery, he  declared  himself  the  defender  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  To  conciliate  the  Protestants  he  convened  a 
diet  at  "Worms,  at  which,  under  a  plausible  show  of 
toleration  he  allowed  Luther,  in  his  presence,  to  defend 
the  principles  of  the  reformation.  But  his  ambigu- 
ous policy  becoming  offensive  to  the  Roman  See,  he 
issued  an  edict  against  the  Protestants.  A  Catholic 
from  interest,  he  was  more  disposed  to  make  the  pope 
auxiliary  to  the  success  of  his  designs  than  to  be  gov- 
erned by  him.  Hence,  when  Francis  I.  preferred  claims 
to  certain  portions  of  the  Germanic  empire,  he  leagued 
-with  the  pope  and  accomplished  the  defeat  of  the  king  ; 
but  he  was  equally  disposed  to  defend  his  interests 
against  the  pope.  The  papal  monarch,  always  appre- 
hensive of  the  political  power  of  friend  or  foe,  seeing 
that  his  confederacy  with  Charles  had  vastly  augmented 
the  latter's  preponderating  power,  and  placed  the 
papal  interests  at  his  disposal,  formed  against  him  a 
counter  league  with  the  Italian  States.  This  effort  to 
retrieve  the  errors  of  his  jDolicy  only  aggravated  his 
misfortune.  The  forces  of  the  Holy  League  were  de- 
feated by  the  arms  of  Charles,  Rome  taken  by  storm, 
the  city  plundered,  the  pope  imprisoned,  and  four  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns  of  gold  demanded  for  his  ran- 
som.    When  Charles  heard  of  the  success  of  his  arms, 


IN  GERMANY,  313 

in  evident  moctery  lie  dressed  himself  in  mourning  for 
the  pope,  ordered  masses  to  be  said  in  all  the  churches 
for  his  deliverance  from  prison,  and  in  alleviation  of  his 
misfortune  reduced  the  ransom  to  100, 000  crowns. 
The  power  of  Charles  overavving  the  papal  throne, 
it  prudently  refrained  from  venting  in  insulting  anathe- 
mas the  ebullitions  of  its  wrath.  Pope  Clement  VIL, 
after  the  peace  of  Cambray  in  1592,  crowned  Charles 
as  King  of  Lombardy  and  Eome. 

On  this  occasion  the  emperor  dutifully  kissed 
the  feet  of  the  papal  monarch.  The  cause  of  this 
affection  and  harmony  was  shortly  afterwards  man- 
ifested in  an  intolerant  edict  against  the  Protest- 
ants. This  significant  menace  led  the  Protestant 
princes  to  form  the  Smalkalden  League  for  the  pro- 
tection of  Protestantism.  Two  years  afterwards  a  holy 
league  was  formed  by  the  Catholic  princes  for  the  pro- 
tection of  Catholicism.  After  some  abortive  attempts 
at  negotiation,  the  Protestant  league  raised  the  stand- 
ard of  war.  The  emperor  by  strategetic  movements, 
and  by  creating  jealousy  and  divisions  among  the  Pro- 
testant confederates,  obtained  important  advantages 
over  their  arms,  and  finally  succeeded  in  dissolving  the 
league.  But  Maurice  of  Saxony  had  secretly  formed 
another  league,  which  was  joined  by  Henry  II.,  King  of 
France.  While  Charles  was  at  Innspruck,  attending  the 
Council  of  Trent,  Maurice  suddenly  appeared  at  the 
head  of  an  army,  and  the  emperor  barely  escaped 
amid  the  darkness  of  a  stormy  night  from  being  cap- 
tured. The  council  was  consequently  dissolved,  and 
the  Protestants  dictated  the  terms  of  peace  at  Passau ; 
which  the  emperor  ratified  at  Augsburg.  By  the  terms 
27 


814  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

of  this  treaty  it  was  agreed  that  no  one  should  be 
attacked  on  account  of  his.  religious  belief ;  that  no  one 
should  be  molested  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  property  or 
mode  .of  worship ;  that  religious  disputes  should  be  ad- 
justed by  pacific  means  ;  that  persons  for  religious  rea- 
sons should  be  allowed  to  change  their  residences ;  that 
bishops  on  becoming  Protestants  should  forfeit  their 
office  and  salary ;  and  that  every  Protestant  should  en- 
joy his  faith  until  a  religious  compromise  should  be 
established, 

Charles,  broken  down  in  health  and  constitution, 
enfeebled  in  mind,  and  conceiving  that  he  was  haunted 
by  some  invisible  power  which  blasted  all  his  prospects, 
abdicated  the  throne  and  retired  to  a  monastery,  where 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  making  wooden 
clocks,  and  in  performing  his  funeral  ceremonies. 

Ferdinand  II.,  King  of  Spain,  succeeded  to  the  crown 
of  Germany  in  1619.  He  was  by  nature  of  a  morose 
and  revengeful  disposition,  and  the  bigotry  and  preju- 
dice which  had  been  instilled  into  his  mind  by  Catholic 
preceptors  made  him  an  accomplished  instrument  in 
the  hands  of  the  church,  in  executing  its  exterminating 
vengeance  on  the  heretics.  During  the  course  of  his 
tutelage  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Home,  where  an  oath 
was  administered  to  him  by  the  pope,  that  if  he  should 
ever  become  emperor  he  would  exterminate  heresy  in 
his  dominions.  When  he  ascended  the  throne  Germany 
was  divided  into  two  factions.  The  one  was  known  as 
the  "  Catholic  League,"  and  the  other  as  the  "  Evan- 
gelical Union."  The  Catholic  League  was  headed  by 
Maximilian,  elector  of  Bavaria,  and  comprised  the 
bishops  and  princes  attached  to  the  house  of  Austria. 


IN  GERMAirr.  315 

TKe  Evangelical  Union  was  headed  by  the  Duke  of 
Wittenberg,  the  elector  of  Saxony  and  Brandenburg, 
and  composed  of  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  princes  and 
knights.  A  number  of  the  princes  of  Bavaria  assem- 
bled at  Prague,  and  declaring  that  they  would  not  sub- 
mit to  Maximilian,  chose  for  their  king  Frederic, 
elector  of  the  Palatina,  a  member  of  the  Evangelical 
Union.  This  revolt  benefited  the  Evangelical  Union 
by  a  powerful  accession.  A  desperate  and  bloody 
struggle  was  imminent  between  these  two  parties. 
Notwithstanding  the  Protestant  influence  in  Bavaria,  ^ 
Ferdinand  succeeded  in  having  himself  elected  king. 
After  this  event  he  tore  up  in  a  violent  rage  the 
charter  which  Rudolph  II.  had  granted  the  Bohemians, 
because  it  allowed  them  to  build  churches  and  school- 
houses.  He  then  showed  his  remembrance  of  his  pop- 
ish oath  by  persecuting  the  Protestants,  banishing  their 
preachers,  and  depopulating  the  kingdom  by  an  intoler- 
ance which  caused  emigrations  of  whole  sections  from 
his  dominions.  The  victory  of  his  troops  near  Prague 
enabling  him  to  dictate  a  treaty  which  crushed  the 
Protestant  cause,  and  dissolved  the  Evangelical  Union, 
he  proceeded  to  restore  the  ecclesiastical  institutions 
which  had  been  abolished  by  the  Protestants,  to  ex- 
clude Calvinists  from  the  benefits  of  the  religious  peace 
of  Augsburg,  and  to  require  Protestants  living  under 
Catholic  princes  to  believe  in  Catholicism.  Besides 
these  decrees,  enforced  by  the  military  power,  the  con- 
quest of  the  Palatinate  of  Frederic,  the  bestowal  of 
that  dignity  on  Maximilian,  the  emperor's  favorite, 
giving  the  Catholics  the  ascendency  in  the  electoral 
college,  the  army  of  Tilly  in   Lower  Saxony,  where  no 


316  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

existing  enemy  made  it  excusable,  depriving  the  Pro- 
testants of  their  churches,  committing  wanton  violence 
on  the  Lutherans,  and  compelling  thousands  to  abandon 
their  homes,  property  and  country,  were  such  gross 
violations  of  treaties,  and  such  strong  incentives  to 
resistance,  that  the  Protestant  princes  were  impelled  to 
unite  in  a  league  with  the  King  of  Denmark  and 
the  Duke  of  Holstein,  determining  to  exhaust  every 
resource  in  the  defence  of  religious  liberty.  After 
some  successes  the  confederated  forces  were  defeated, 
and  the  Protestants  lost  all  that  they  had  acquired 
since  the  peace  of  Augsburg.  At  this  dark  hour  in  the 
fortunes  of  the  league,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  with  an 
army  of  thirty  thousand  veterans,  espoused  its  cause. 
His  heroism,  strategetic  skill,  and  indomitable  valor 
soon  annihilated  Tilly's  army,  reduced  the  imperial 
allies  to  extreme  distress,  conquered  Lower  Saxony  and 
Bavaria,' and  delivered  the  Protestants  from  their  per- 
ilous situation.  Tilly  having  died,  Wallenstein  assumed 
command.  Having  raised  an  immense  and  formidable 
army,  the  new  general  was  enabled  to  attack  Adolphus 
with  such  overwhelming  force  that  he  compelled  him  to 
retire  from  Bavaria.  In  1642,  at  Lutzen,  the  two  pow- 
erful armies  came  to  a  general  and  decisive  engagement ; 
the  genius  of  Adolphus  crowned  his  arms  with  victory, 
but  his  intrepidity  cost  him  his  life.  Through  a  wise 
policy  the  Swedes  still  continued  a  triumphant  career, 
victoriously  marching  through  the  empire  with  incred- 
ible rapidity,  and  finally,  after  the  battle  of  Prague, 
dictating  the  peace  of  Westphalia. 

By  the  terms  of  the  peace  of  Westphalia  Calvinists 
acquired  the  same  rights  with  Lutherans  ;  princes  were 


IN   GERMANY,  317 

bound  not  to  persecute  subjects  on  account  of  religious 
differences ;  all  acquisitions  of  Protestants  since  the 
peace  of  Augsburg  were  confirmed ;  entire  equality  of 
sect,  liberty  of  conscience,  and  the  exercise  of  all  modes 
of  religion  were  guaranteed,  and  the  independence  of 
Switzerland  and  of  the  Netherlands  acknowledged. 

Pope  Innocent  X.  strenuously  protested  against  this 
peace,  complaining  in  bitter  terms  of  the  deep  injury 
it  inflicted  on  the  church.  Though  the  consequences  of 
the  treaty  have  been  of  the  most  benignant  nature  to 
Europe,  still  the  Papal  See  has,  through  all  periods 
maintained,  with  unabated  animosity,  its  original  oppo- 
sition to  the  invaluable  treaty. 

The  papal  intrigues,  so  prolific  of  disastrous  wars, 
were  no  less  pernicious  to  Austria  than  they  had  been 
to  other  powers.  Upon  the  death  of  Duke  Frederic, 
its  ruler,  Frederic  11. ,  of  Germany,  declared  the  duchy 
a  vacant  iief  of  his  empire,  and  appointed  over  it  a 
governor.  Pope  Innocent  V.  persuaded  Margaret,  the 
sister  of  the  deceased  duke,  and  Gertrude,  his  neice,  to 
claim  the  duchy  as  their  inheritance.  The  Margrave 
Hermann,  by  the  aid  of  the  pope  and  his  machinery, 
was  enabled  to  command  a  strong  party  in  support  of 
the  project.  After  a  war  of  thirty-six  years  the  dis- 
pute was  settled  by  the  interference  of  the  emperor 
Eodolph,  who  gave  it  to  his  two  sons,  Albert  and  Ro- 
dolph. 

On  the  death  of  Maria  Theresa,  Joseph,  her  son, 
succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Austria.  Maria  Theresa 
was  a  very  devout  and  superstitious  princess,  a  circum- 
stance which  enabled  the  sacerdotal  fraternity  to  gain 
and  betray  her  confidence.  But  in  making  her  an  ob- 
27* 


S18  PAPAL    POLITICAL   INTPvIGUES 

JGct  of  their  craft  they  made  her  son  their  enemy.     Their 
duplicity  having  excited  in  the  mind  of  Joseph  a  strong 
aversion  to  the  intermeddling  and  intriguing  profession, 
he  no  sooner  ascended  the  throne  than  he   manifest- 
ed a  disposition  to  adopt  a  policy  more  in  accordance 
with  the  enlightenment  of  the  age  than  was  agreeable 
to  the  pope  and  the   clergy.     The  world  with  pleasure, 
but  the  church  with  consternation,  beheld  him  enlarg- 
ing the  liberty  of  the  press,  tolerating  the  Protestants, 
treating  the   Jews  with  moderation,  annulling  ecclesi- 
astical sinecures,  and   abolishing  such  monasteries  and 
nunneries  as  were  not  useful  as  schools   or  hospitals. 
Uneasy  at  these  useful  reforms,  yet  not  daring  to  mut- 
ter his  Vatican  thunder,  and  finding  his  machinery  un- 
able to  atop  their  progress.  Pope  Pius  IV.  sought  a  per- 
sonal interview  with  the  liberal  minded   emperor,  to 
dissuade  him  from  the  further  prosecution  of  his  bene- 
ficent intentions.     But  notwithstanding  the  earnest  re- 
monstrances of  the   vicar  of  Christ,  the  emperor  still 
continued  to  reduce  the  number  of  the  monasteries,  and 
to  effect  reforms  in  the  churches,  and  in  the  various  de- 
partments   of  the    government.     This   wise    and    saga- 
cious policy,  which  relieved  the  people  of  the    oppres- 
sion  of    spiritual   despotism,    and    renewed    the    vigor 
of  national  energy,  was  not  appreciated  by  the  masses 
through   the    ignorance    and    superstition    of    the    age. 
The   emperor  not  only  had  to  contend  with  opposition 
from  those  for  whose  moral  advancement  he  was  labor- 
ing, but  also  with  the   disguised  hostility  of  the  pope, 
and  the  subtle  operation  of  his  treacherous  machinery. 
But  still,  amid  wars,  seditions  and  rebellions,  he  pur- 
sued his  magnanimous  policy  ;  and  if  he  did  not  effect 


IN   GERMANY.  319 

all  the  reforms  in  the  cliurch,  and  in  liis  government, 
that  he  had  contemplated,  it  was  more  through  the  in- 
trigues of  the  pope  than  through  any  want  of  disposi- 
tion, skill  and  energy  on  his  part. 

The  various  orders  of    knights,   whose    avocation  it 
was  to  enforce   conformity  to  the  demands  of  Catholi- 
cism by  the  vengeance  of  the  sword,  was  an  important 
part  of  the  papal  machinery.     All  who  yielded  not  to 
this  argument  were  threatened  with  extermination  ;  all 
who    did,    became   the    slaves    of    spiritual    despotism. 
Under  pretext  of  protecting  Poland  from  the  ravages  of 
Prussian  heathen,  the  Teutonic  Knights,  in  1226,  won 
from  Conrad   of  Masovia  a  small  strip  of  land  on  the 
Vistula.     For  fifty-three  years  they  carried  on  a  war 
against  the   Persian    tribes,   and  finally   obliged    them 
to  embrace  Catholicism.     This  war,  suggested  by  papal 
craft,  continued  by  incredible  barbarity,  culminated  in 
the   grossest   perfidy.     In   their   protection  of    Poland 
they  inflicted  deeper  injuries  on  her  than  the  savages  of 
Prussia  had  ever  contemplated,  or  in  fact  had  the  abil- 
ity  to  inflict.     They    subjugated    the   Baltic  seaboard, 
from  the  Oder  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  and  wrung  from 
her  her  maritime  commerce,  and  her  northern  line  of 
defence.     Poland  and   Prussia  having  both  been  plun- 
dered and  oppressed  by  the  knights,  united  in  a  bond 
of  union   against  their  common  enemy,  and  a  ferocious 
war  was  inaugurated,  during  which  the  knights  lost  a 
great  portion  of  their  territory,  and  finally  their  power 
was  broken.     In   the   various  vicissitudes  of   the  suc- 
ceeding fifty   years  the  knights    became    abolished   in 
Prussia,  and  their  possessions  converted  into  a  heredi- 
tary   duchy,   under   the    male   line  of   Prince    Albert, 


320  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

which,    under    Francis    III.    became   the   kingdom   of 
Prussia. 

The  papal  intrigues  with  regard  to  the  Netherlands, 
were  fruitful  of  sanguinary  and  deplorable  conse- 
quences. Under  the  reign  of  Charles  V.  one  hundred 
thousand  Protestants  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  papal  intol- 
erance. Philip,  his  son  and  successor,  narrow  in  his 
views,  irritable  in  his  temper,  and  implacable  in  his 
hate,  transcended  even  Charles  in  the  inhumanity  of 
his  measures  towards  his  Protestant  subjects.  Cardinal 
Granvella  having  introduced  into  the  Netherlands  the 
inquisition,  for  the  extirpation  of  religious  freedom,  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  in  conjunction  with  other  distin- 
guished personages,  remonstrated  against  the  measure. 
This  remonstrance  was  regarded  by  the  government  as 
an  act  of  treason.  The  haughtiness  of  the  cardinal,  and 
the  severe  measures  he  introduced  to  intimidate  the 
people,  produced  great  disorder  and  alarm.  The  nobles 
conspired  to  defend  their  rights ;  the  Protestants  boldly 
celebrated  their  religious  ceremonies,  and  the  people 
fled  in  crowds  to  England  and  Saxony.  In  spite  of  in- 
tolerant edicts  and  excruciating  torture,  a  bold  spirit 
of  resistance  was  excited  in  the  provinces.  Philip  re- 
called Cardinal  Granvella,  but  appointed  in  his  place 
Alva,  a  more  cruel  and  implacable  tyrant.  Proud, 
fierce  and  imperious,  this  man  knew  of  nothing  but  to 
command  in  a  despotic  tone,  and  expect  his  subjects  to 
tremble  and  obey.  Sixty  years  of  warfare  always  suc- 
cessful, had  familiarized  him  to  deeds  of  blood,  without 
humbling  him  by  the  salutary  lessons  of  misfortune. 
Death,  the  usual  penalty  of  disobedience  to  his  com- 
mands,  gave  his  mandate  a   terrific  importance.      As 


IN   GERMANY.  321 

soon  as  lie  Kad  assumed  the  direction  of  tlie  Netherland 
provinces,  lie  established  a  council  of  blood  by  means  of 
which  he  condemned  all  whom  he  suspected  of  heresy,  or 
whose  fortunes  excited  a  prospect  of  increasing  his  own. 
The  noblest  of  the  nation  fell  under  the  axe  of  his  exe- 
cutioner ;  and  as  avarice  had  always  been  a  prominent 
trait  of  his  character,  he  now  illustrated  the  obduracy 
with  which  it  is  capable  of  debasing  humanity,  by  con- 
fiscating the  property,  not  only  of  the  present  but  of 
the  absent;  not  only  of  the  living  but  of  the  dead. 
Having  cited  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  appear  before  his 
council,  and  that  prince  having  refused  on  the  ground 
of  his  exemption  by  privilege,  law  and  usage,  he  de- 
clared him  dispossessed  of  all  property,  and  seizing  on  his 
son,  sent  him  to  Spain  as  a  hostage.  The  prince,  here- 
tofore a  liberal-minded  Catholic,  now  declared  himself 
a  Protestant,  and  drew  his  sword  in  favor  of  religious 
freedom.  By  a  perseverance  which  no  difficulties  could 
prostrate,  a  sagacity  which  no  subterfuge  could  deceive, 
a  heroism  which  no  danger  could  appall,  and  a  magnan- 
imity which  commanded  the  admiration  of  the  world, 
he  struggled  through  discouragement,  vexation  and  de- 
feat until  he  had  laid  a  solid  foundation  for  the  freedom 
of  the  provinces,  by  reconstructing  them  in  a  judicious 
confederacy,  under  the  name  of  the  United  Provinces  of 
the  Netherlands,  and  inducing  them  to  renounce  alle- 
giance to  Spain.  Philip  hence  declared  the  prince  an 
outlaw,  and  offered  a  reward  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  for  either  his  apprehension  or  his 
assassination.  In  1584  the  noble  prince  was  shot  dead 
by  Balthazar  Gerard,  who  confessed  that  he  had  been 
instigated  to  the  deed  by  a  Franciscan  monk  and  a 


322  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES. 

Jesuist  priest.  But  though  the  founder  of  the  republic 
fell  a  victim  to  Romish  treachery,  its  defence  was  con- 
tinued with  insuperable  still  and  valor.  Army  after 
army  sent  against  the  republic  was  annihilated  by  the 
indomitable  bravery  of  its  troops,  until  its  soil  became 
the  cemetery  of  the  military  strength  of  Spain.  Its 
tolerance  gave  it  population  ;  its  freedom,  energy ;  its 
maritime  contes.ts,  a  knowledge  of  navigation ;  and  its 
enterprise,  commerce  trade  and  prosperity.  After  a 
war  of  thirty  years,  replete  with  heroism  and  magnan- 
imity, it  wrung  from  Spain,  in  the  Westphalia  treaty,  a 
full  recognition  of  independence. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PAPAL  POLITICAL  INTRIGUES  IJSf  POP- 
TUOAL  AND  SPAIN. 

In  Portugal,  under  the  reign  of  Alphonso  I — Sancho 
II  —  Dionysus  —  John  II  —  Emanuel — John  III, 
— Sebastian — Philip  II — Joseph  I — Maria  Fran- 
cesca  Isabella — John  VI — Pedro  VI — and  Dona 
Maria. 

In  Spain,  under  the  reign  of  Peccarred  I — Charles  V — 
Philip  II— Philip  III— Charles  II— Charles  III 
Charles  IV. — a7id  Ferdinand  VII. 

Alphonso,  in  1139,  in  the  cause  of  the  church  and  of 
national  independence,  subjugated  the  Moors  of  Por- 
tugal. The  victor  was  saluted  on  the  field  by  his  army 
as  king  of  the  conquered  dominion  ;  the  Cortes  Lamego 
invested  him  with  regel  authority  ;  and  Pope  Alexander 
III.  acknowledged  his  legitimacy,  the  independence  of 
the  nation,  and  the  laws  and  constitution  which  were 
prescribed.  By  a  provision  of  the  constitution,  which 
probably  sprung  from  the  religious  tolerance  of  the 
Moorish  regime,  the  king  was  prohibited  under  forfeit- 
ure of  the  crown,  from  becoming  tributary  to  any 
foreign  power.  But  notwithstanding  this  proud  inter- 
diction, Alphonso  in  the  course  of  severe  conflicts  which 
afterwards  took  place  between  him  and  the  kings  of 
Castile  and  Loon,  made  his  kingdom,  in  violation  of 
his  own  constitution,  a  fief  of  Pv-ome,  in  order  to  secure 
the  papal  support. 


324  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

In  consequence  of  tliis  concession  to  papal  supremacy, 
Sancho  II.,  in  1245,  became  involved  in  a  dispute  with 
the  clergy ;  and  upon  appealing  to  Pope  Innocent  IV., 
had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  crown. 

Alphonso  III.  succeeded  to  the  regal  dignity.  Jealous 
of  the  rights  of  sovereignty,  and  determined  to  transmit 
them  unimpaired  to  his  successor,  his  reign  was,  in  con- 
sequence, a  perpetual  contest  with  the  intrigues  of  the 
clergy.  Inflexibly  firm  and  resolute,  he  defeated  their 
artful  attempts  to  extend  their  landed  estates  ;  to  obtain 
exemption  from  taxation  ;  to  acquire  for  their  persons 
and  possessions  an  independence  of  secular  jurisdiction  ; 
and  to  subject  the  temporal  to  the  spiritual  authority 
by  an  insidious  and  gradual  encroachment  on  the 
rights  of  the  crown. 

Dionysus,  who  succeeded  Alphonso  III.,  opposed 
with  prudence  and  firmness  the  papal  intrigues,  which 
had  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  kingdom  from  its  foun- 
dation. In  order  to  moderate  the  selfishness  and  tyran- 
ny of  the  first  and  second  estates,  composed  of  the 
clergy  and  nobility,  he  erected  the  cities  into  a  third 
estate,  of  equal  legislative  authority.  By  elevating  the 
dignity  of  the  commonality,  and  taking  advantage  of 
the  commercial  resources  which  the  geography  of  the 
country  afi'orded,  he  awakened  in  the  nation  a  spirit  of 
indomitable  enterprise  which  laid  the  foundation  of  its 
subsequent  greatness.  This  liberal  and  enlightened 
policy  cost  him  the  friendship  of  the  papal  court,  but  he 
disarmed  its  malice  by  an  admirable  course  of  prudence 
and  courtesy. 

John  II.  became  King  of  Portugal  in  1450.  During 
his  administration  Ferdinand  and   Isabella,  of  Spain, 


IN  PORTUGAL  AND  SPAIN.  325 

governed  by  the  spirit  of  Catholic  intolerance,  insti- 
tuted a  rigorous  prosecution  against  the  Jews,  by  which 
thousands  of  them  were  deprived  of  their  fortunes,  and 
driven  into  exile.  The  Jews  had  arisen  in  Spain  into 
considerable  political  influence  ;  they  had  become  farm- 
ers of  the  revenue  ;  and  their  characteristic  avarice  had 
rendered  them  obnoxious  to  the  people.  Instead  of 
rectifying  the  evil  by  adequate  measures,  the  crown  and 
people,  influenced  by  the  church,  were  made  instru- 
mental in  gratifying  its  hatred  against  the  Hebrew 
race,  by  a  persecution  as  unjust  as  it  was  impolitic. 
John  II.,  with  more  liberal  views  of  government,  im- 
proved the  injudicious  measures  of  Spain,  to  the  advan- 
tage of  his  own  kingdom.  Discarding  the  intolerance  of 
his  religion,  he  invited  the  persecuted  Jews  to  his  do- 
minion ;  and  by  affording  them  a  peaceful  asylum,  added 
largely  to  the  wealth,  population,  prosperity  and  im- 
portance of  the  nation. 

Emanuel,  son  of  John  II.,  succeeded  to  the  throne  of 
Portugal  in  1495.  He  married  Elenora,  sister  of  Char- 
les v.,  of  Germany.  He  had  imbibed  the  beneficent 
toleration  of  his  sire,  which  had  been  so  advantageous 
to  the  nation,  but  which  was  too  antagonistical  to  the 
spirit  of  Catholicism,  to  command  its  support.  The 
craft  of  priestly  policy  might  conceal  its  hostility  to 
tolerance  from  public  perception,  but  machinations  for 
its  subversion  would  be  no  less  incessantly  at  work. 
In  the  pious  system  of  sacerdotal  intrigue  the  amiable 
qualities  of  human  nature  are  the  most  available,  as  they 
are  the  most  insidious,  and  least  liable  to  be  suspected. 
Devoid  of  the  finer  sentiments  of  honor,  the  priests,  in 
their  capacity  of  spiritual  advisers,  scruple  not  to  abuse 
28 


326'  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTPvIGL'ES 

tlie  privileges  accorded  tKem,  in  making  the  influence 
which  a  female  may  exercise  over  a  husband,  lover  or 
parent,  subservient  to  their  own  purposes.  This  species 
of  ecclesiastical  intrigue  is  illustrated  m  the  conduct  of 
Queen  Elenora.  Having  acquired  a  controlling  ascend- 
ancy over  the  king's  mind,  she  was  induced  by  her 
spiritual  advisers  to  extort  from  him  a  promise  that  he 
would  require  the  Jews  to  embrace  Christianity  under 
pain  of  being  reduced  to  slavery  for  life.  By  whatever 
considerations,  Emanuel  was  led  to  promulgate  a  decree 
so  injurious  to  the  national  welfare,  and  so  inconsistent 
with  the  tokrant  spirit  he  had  manifested,  yet  he  had 
the  humanity  or  sagacity  to  procrastinate  its  execution 
for  twenty  years,  and  thus  to  ameliorate  the  horrors 
with  which  it  was  fraught ;  and  to  place  the  develop- 
ment of  the  catastrophe  beyond  the  period  of  his 
administration. 

John  III.,  son  of  Emanuel,  was  crowned  King  of 
Portugal  in  1521.  A  pliant  tool  in  the  hand  of  papal 
intrigue,  he  gave  a  fatal  blow  to  the  tolerance  and 
prosperity  of  his  kingdom.  The  implacable  hatred  of 
the  church  towards  the  Jews,  hoarded  for  so  many 
years,  now  relieved  of  all  restraint,  exhibited  its  fiend- 
ish barbarism  in  deeds  of  exterminating  cruelty.  To 
escape  the  persecution  to  which  they  were  exposed,  the 
Jews  practised  the  externals  of  Catholijcism,  while  they 
secretly  observed  their  ancient  rites.  The  vigilance  of 
the  papal  machinery,  like  a  monster  with  a  thousand 
eyes,  penetrating  all  secrets,  soon  detected  this  evasion. 
In  order  to  discover  the  persons  who  thus  consulted 
self-preservation  and  the  dictates  of  consciences,  the 
inquisition  was  introduced,  and  a  crusade  of  blood  and 


IN  PURTUGAL  AND  SPAIN.  327 

devastation  preaciied  against  the  whole  Hebrew  race. 
Their  property  was  confiscated ;  their  children  were 
torn  from  them  and  placed  under  Catholic  control ; 
aad  they  themselve  reduced  to  slavery,  or  subjected  to 
the  tortures  of  the  inquisition. 

"While  John  III.,  during  his  reign,  was  the  wretched 
instrument  of  Catholicism  for  the  accomplishment  of 
its  atrocious  designs,  his  grandson,  Sebastian,  who  in 
1557,  at  the  age  of  three  years  succeeded  to  the  throne, 
was  educated,  by  the  express  injunction  of  his  father's 
will,  by  the  Jesuists,  and  consequently  was  moulded  to 
the  same  purposes,  and  reduced  to  the  same  flexible 
subserviency.  Inclined  to  extravagance  by  temper  and 
disposition,  and  educated  by  bigotry  and  craft,  his  am- 
bition became  singularly  whimsical ;  his  devotion  to 
the  pope  absolute  ;  and  his  thirst  indomitable  and  un- 
quenckable  to  engage  in  some  enterprise  in  which  he 
might  shed  the  blood  of  infidels  and  heretics.  When  he 
arrived  at  majority,  in  order  to  express  his  devotion  to 
the  pope,  he  assumed  the  title  of  "  Most  Obedient 
King."  At  the  age  of  twenty  years  his  restless  fanati- 
cism led  him  to  undertake  an  expedition  against  the 
unoffending  infidels  of  Tangiers ;  and  suddenly  falling 
on  the  astonished  inhabitants,  gained  an  easy  victory 
over  them.  The  success  of  his  forces  against  these 
defenceless  mountaineers  led  him  to  imagine  that  his 
arms  were  invincible.  Muley  Mohammed  having  con- 
spired against  his  uncle  Muley  Moloch,  the  governor  of 
Moroco,  Sebastian  conceived  that  by  aiding  the  con- 
spirators with  his  personal  valor  and  military  forces,  he 
might  acquire  some  distinction  for  his  name,  and  some 
advantages  for  the  church.     The  dictates  of  prudence 


328  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

and  sound  policy,  the  protestations  of  his  ablest  coun- 
sellors, and  the  munificent  offer  of  Muley  Moloch  to 
purchase  his  neutrality  by  the  cession  of  five  fortified 
places  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  were  feeble  remonstrances 
to  a  mind  like  that  of  Sebastian's,  in  which  fanaticism 
had  supplanted  principle,  and  despotism  humanity.  To 
popularize  the  hazardous  undertaking,  the  papal  ma- 
chinery began  to  work  industriously  in  its  favor.  Col- 
lecting an  army  of  twenty-one  thousand  three  hundred 
men,  comprised  of  Portuguese,  Germans,  Spaniards, 
Frenchmen  and  Italians,  and  a  fleet  of  one  hundred 
vessels,  he  sailed  for  Africa,  and  landed  with  safety  at 
the  port  of  Alzira.  Although  the  number  and  skilful 
disposition  of  the  Moorish  troops  left  little  doubt  of 
their  triumph;  although  Sebastian's  provisions  were 
nearly  exhausted ;  although  Muley  Moloch,  more  con- 
cerned for  the  safety  of  the  misguided  fanatic  than 
from  any  apprehension  of  the  success  of  his  arms, 
again  attempted  to  negotiate  a  peace  ;  although  some  of 
the  Portuguese  commanders  advised  a  retreat,  and  all 
of  those  of  the  conspirators  a  retreat  to  the  coast,  yet 
so  confident  was  Sebastian  of  the  interposition  of  divine 
providence  in  aiding  him  to  butcher  the  infidels,  that 
he  even  refused  to  defer  the  engagement  until  the  after- 
noon, in  order  that  he  might  have  the  darkness  of  the 
night  to  cover  a  retreat,  should  such  a  measure  become 
inevitable.  Sebastian  fought  with  distinguished  brav- 
ery, yet  his  desperate  fanaticism  was  equalled,  if  not 
surpassed,  by  the  heroic  courage  of  those  who  had  been 
tortured,  outraged,  and  exiled  by  his  intolerance.  The 
martial  semicircle  of  the  Moors  enclosed  his  forces  in  a 
volume  of  destructive  flame,  and  their  disciplined  valor 


IN   PORTUGAL.  329 

and  skilful  manceuvres  completely  annihilated  them. 
The  bodies  of  the  vanquished  that  strewed  the  battle- 
field were,  in  general,  too  horribly  disfigured  with 
wounds  to  admit  of  their  persons  being  identified  ;  and 
Sebastian's  corpse  being  among  the  number,  his  actual 
death  became  doubtful.  This  circumstance,  twenty 
years  afterwards  furnished  the  papal  machinery  with  a 
convenient  opportunity  for  manufacturing  a  bogus  Se- 
bastian. But  although  Joseph  Taxera,  a  Dominican 
monk,  traversed  Europe  to  enlist  the  imperial  courts  in 
its  favor,  yet  the  numerous  spurious  Sebastians  that  had 
sprung  up,  and  the  eagerness  of  several  crowned  heads 
to  seize  the  kingdom,  defeated  the  object  of  his  mission. 
The  controversy  was  finally  settled  by  the  battle  of 
Alancatura,  which,  crowning  with  victory  the  arms  of 
Philip  II.,  of  Spain,  one  of  the  claimants,  subjugated 
Portugal  to  the  dominion  of  Spain. 

The  religious  frenzy  and  whimsical  ambition  of  Se- 
bastian, the  result  of  his  Catholic  education,  cost  Portu- 
gal the  flower  of  her  nobility,  the  strength  of  her  army, 
and  her  national  independence ;  overloaded  her  with 
debt,  and  degraded  her  under  the  dominion  of  a  gov- 
ernment distracted  by  unsuccessful  wars,  and  governed 
by  a  rapacious  and  unprincipled  administration.  When 
John  III,  in  1540,  introduced  the  Jesuists  into  his 
kingdom,  the  doom  of  Portugal  was  sealed.  From 
that  period,  under  the  intolerant  measures  of  his 
administration,  its  power  began  rapidly  to  decline, 
until  its  disastrous  connection  with  Spain  secured 
its  downfall.  Guinea,  Brazil,  the  Molluccas,  and  all 
the  fairest  dominions  of  Portugal  were  wrung  from 
her  grasp.  Spain  oppressed  her  with  rapacious  tyranny ; 
28* 


330  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTEIGUES 

England  and  tlie  Jesuists  monopolized  her  trade,  and 
the  calamities  which  had  visited  her  in  such  frightful 
succession  exhausted  her  resources. 

The  capacity  of  the  nation  for  greatness,  notwith- 
standing the  degradation  into  which  she  had  sunk,  still 
animated  the  patriotic  Portuguese  with  the  hopes  of  a 
national  redemption.  In  1640  a  powerful  conspiracy 
was  formed  against  the  Spanish  regime,  and  in  1750  the 
political  independence  of  Portugal  was  achieved,  and 
Joseph  I.  elevated  to  the  throne.  Duke  Pombal,  an 
able  statesman,  and  the  prime  minister  of  the  gov- 
ernment, regarding  the  Jesuists  as  the  origin  of  the 
weakness  and  disgraces  of  the  government,  and  believ- 
ing that  their  secrecy,  dissimulation  and  treachery, 
absolved  him  from  any  obligation  he  might  assume  with 
regard  to  them,  inconsistent  with  the  public  good,  became 
a  member  of  their  order  that  he  might  acquire  a  correct 
knowledge  of  their  principles  and  mode  of  operation, 
and  be  qualified  to  counteract  their  pernicious  ma- 
chinations. With  profound  dissimulation,  he  so  com- 
pletely deceived  them  that  they  admitted  him  to  an  in- 
timate knowledge  of  all  their  secrets,  plans  and  de- 
signs. After  having  fully  obtained  his  object  he  made 
a  public  exposition  of  their  secrets.  He  disclosed 
the  dangerous  principles  of  their  constitution,  their  po- 
litical objects,  the  oaths  by  Avhich  they  were  bound, 
the  baseness  of  their  intrigues,  their  false  professions, 
their  horrible  deeds,  and  their  disgraceful  rapacity  and 
profligacy.  By  the  exposure  which  he  was  enabled  to 
make  he  succeeded  in  having  them  removed  from  the 
important  position  of  confessors  to  the  king,  and  in- 
structors of  youth  in  colleges.     He  also  induced  Joseph 


IN   POETUGAL,  331 

to  expel  tliem  from  the  missions  of  Paraguay;  to 
abridge  the  power  of  the  bishops  ~  and  to  prohibit  the 
celebration  of  the  "  auto-da-fe"  of  the  inquisition. 
The  Jesuists  not  being  able  successfully  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  reform  determined  to  assassinate  the  king; 
but  failing  in  this  attempt,  the  whole  order  fell  under 
the  ban  of  the  kingdom,  and  were  officially  declared  a 
political  organization  under  the  mask  of  religion,  and 
its  members  expelled  from  the  kingdom  as  enemies  of 
the  public  peace,  and  traitors  to  the  government.  Pope 
Clement  XIII.,  enraged  at  this  summary  destruction  of 
the  most  efficient  department  of  his  machinery,  endea- 
vored to  intimidate  the  reformers  by  threats  of  excom- 
munication, and  commissioned  a  legate  to  adopt  any 
means  to  arrest  proceedings  against  the  Jesuists.  But 
his  legate  was  promptly  escorted  out*  of  the  kingdom; 
and  as  the  conduct  of  the  holy  father  in  protecting  and 
defending  an  organization  of  traitors  and  assassins,  im- 
plicated him  in  the  guilt  of  an  accessory,  all  connection 
with  the  See  of  Rome  was  declared  dissolved  until  the 
imputation  should  be  removed  by  the  abolishment  of 
the  Jesuistical  order.  The  vanity  of  Pope  Clement 
could  not  permit  him  to  suffer  such  a  mortification,  and 
the  decree  of  dissolution  was  rigorously  enforced ;  but 
his  successor,  at  the  hazard  of  disproving  the  papal  in- 
fallibility, complying  with  the  demands  of  Portugal, 
amicable  relations  were  re-established. 

On  the  death  of  Joseph  I.,  in  1777,  Maria  Francesca 
Isabella,  his  eldest  daughter,  succeeded  to  the  royal 
dignity.  The  superstitious  temperament  of  this  queen, 
and  her  natural  infirmity,  which  terminated  in  con- 
firmed mental  alienation,  disqualified  her  for  the  admin- 


332  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

istration  of  the  governmental  powers  on  sound  prin- 
ciples of  public  policy,  and  surrendered  her  to  the 
selfish  control  of  a  corrupt  priesthood  and  ambitious 
nobility.  By  the  intrigues  of  these  two  classes,  which 
seldom  scruple  to  sacrifice  the  popular  interest  to  their 
personal  advantage,  Pombal  was  deprived  of  his  useful 
political  influence,  most  of  his  regulations  w^ere  abol- 
ished, and  Portugal,  from  the  dawn  of  a  magnificent 
future,  sunk  into  the  obscurity  and  lethargy  of  her 
former  condition. 

In  1817  John  VI.,  who  had  been  regent  during  the 
imbecility  of  the  queen,  from  1795  to  her  death,  ascended 
the  throne.  The  spirit  of  French  republicanism  ex- 
erted a  liberalizing  influence  over  Europe  generally, 
and  had  apparently  a  similar  efl'ect  on  the  pope  and  his 
machinery.  • 

Those  who  did  not  understand  the  profoundity  of 
sacerdotal  craft  might  have  been  stupefied  with  as- 
tonishment to  see  a  pope,  while  professing  to  be  in- 
fallible, discarding  principles  and  policies  which  had 
been  approved  by  the  practice,  and  defended  by  the 
anathemas  of  his  predecessors.  He  not  only  sanctioned 
the  prohibition  of  Portugal  forbidding  Jesuists  from 
entering  the  kingdom,  and  consented  to  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  inquisition,  but  even  requested  that  all 
persecution  against  the  Jews  should  cease,  and  that  they 
should  be  admitted  to  greater  rights  and  privileges. 
The  popular  current  had  set  in  too  strongly  in  favor  of 
change  in  the  constitution  and  administration  of  the 
government  for  papal  sagacity  to  oppose,  and  unob- 
structed by  the  sacerdotal  machinery,  it  became  daily 
augmented  in   volume  and   impetuosity.     The   liberal 


IN   PORTUGAL.  333 

feeling  of  the  nation,  allowed  spontaneously  to  flow, 
culminated  in  1820  in  establishing,  without  violence  or 
bloodshed,  a  provisional  government  and  a  new  cortes. 
Tolerance  on  the  lips  of  a  Catholic  priest  is  treason  to 
Rome  ;  and,  though  this  circumstance  might  have  cau- 
tioned prudence  against  investing  any  of  them  with 
power,  yet  as  they  had  warmly  espoused  the  liberal 
cause,  they  were  elected  by  the  people  as  members  to 
the  cortes,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  lawyers  and 
governmental  officers.  At  the  assemblage  of  the  cortes, 
under  the  presidency  of  the  archbishop  of  Braga,  the 
revolutionary  measures  were  sanctioned,  the  inquisition 
forever  interdicted,  and  a  constitution  framed  which 
secured  freedom  of  person  and  property,  the  liberty  of 
the  press,  and  legal  equality.  The  king  approved  the 
provisions  of  this  constitution,  and  swore  to  support 
it.  But  under  this  prosperous  appearance  of  repub- 
lican progress,  the  demon  of  religious  intolerance  was 
secretly  at  w^ork ;  availing  itself  of  every  means  to 
arrest  the  popular  current.  The  portentous  mutterings 
of  an  approaching  storm  were  frequently  heard  ;  and 
it  was  not,  therefore,  a  matter  of  surprise  to  the  friends 
of  freedom,  that  in  1832,  a  regency  was  established  at 
Valladolid,  under  the  bishop  of  Lisbon,  with  the  avowed 
object  of  subverting  the  constitution,  and  inviting  the 
people  to  rally  under  the  standard  of  monarchy ;  nor 
that  this  regency  was  supported  by  the  queen,  Don 
Miguel,  the  clergy  and  the  nobility.  The  machinations 
of  the  papal  machinery  had  so  successfully  extinguished 
the  popular  enthusiasm  which  had  won  such  important 
concessions  to  natural  right,  that  no  sooner  was  the 
standard  of  royalty  raised,  than  an  enormous  reduction 


334  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

took  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  liberal  party.     So  many- 
priests,    noblemen,    soldiers   and   people    espoused    the 
royal  cause,  that  John  VI.  found  no  difficulty  in  declar- 
ing the   constitution   of  1822,  which  he  had  sworn  to 
support,  null  and  void,  and  to  protect  his  perjury  and 
his  treason  to  the  freedom  of  the  people,  by  disarming 
the  military  and  the  national  guards.     The  absolutists 
then  proceeded  to  annul  all  the  concessions  that  had 
been  made,  in  accommodation  to  the  popular  feeling ; 
they  restored  the  church  confiscated  property,   estab- 
lished  a  censorship  over  the  press,  imprisoned  or  ban- 
ished the  liberal  members  of  the  cortes,  and  organized 
a  junta  for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  monarchial  con- 
stitution.    But  Don  Migual,  aspiring  to  become  absolute 
king,  could  not  submit  to  the  restriction  of  a  constitu- 
tion;   and,  being   commander-in-chief,    and    exercising 
the  governmental  powers,  excited  an  insurrection  against 
the  Lisbon  cortes,  and  arbitrarily  proceeded  to  banish 
all  liberals,  constitutionalists,  freemasons,  and  members 
of  other  secret  societies.     That  he  might  successfully 
remove  every  obstacle   that  imperiled  his  ultimate  de- 
signs, he  forbade  all  appeals  to  the  king.     But  the  acts 
w^hich  his  ambition  dictated  were  too  reprehensible  not 
to  acqure  for  his  administration  a  dangerous  and  preju- 
dicial notoriety.     In  spite  of  all  precaution  the  rumor 
of  his  tyranny  penetrated  the  royal  palace,   and  Don 
Miguel  was  summoned  into  the  presence  of  the  king  to 
explain  the  reasons  for  his  arbitrary  conduct.     Candidly 
acknowledging  or  artfully  assuming  that  he  had  been 
the  innocent  victim  of  craft  and  misrepresentation,  he 
succeeded  in  obtaining  the  king's  pardon. 

In  1826  John  VI.  died,  and  Isabella  becoming  regent, 


IN   PURTUGAL  335 

administered  the  government  until  Pedro  IV.  of  Brazil, 
the  brother  of  the  deceased  king,  could  make  it  conve- 
nient to  visit  Portugal,  and  assume  the  reigns  of  gov- 
ernment. After  having  done  so  he  established  a  con- 
stitution, providing  two  legislative  chambers,  and  then 
abdicated  in  favor  of  his  eldest  daughter,  Dona  Maria 
da  Gloria.  Don  Miguel,  his  brother,  the  chamberlains, 
and  the  magistrates  swore  to  support  the  constitution. 
But  the  first,  in  violation  of  his  oath  of  allegiance, 
and  of  his  fraternal  obligations,  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy for  its  overthrow.  ^Yith  this  object  in  view 
he  organized  an  apostolic  party,  and  abusing  the 
power  and  confidence  with  which  he  was  honored, 
secretly  filled  the  army,  navy,  and  civil  offices 
with  his  adherents.  Having  matured  his  plans  he 
caused  an  insurrection  to  break  out  against  the  queen, 
in  order  to  enable  him  to  seize  the  royal  authority 
under  pretense  of  restoring  public  tranquillity.  Eng- 
land, however,  interfering,  the  revolution  was  checked, 
and  the  project  of  usurpation  frustrated.  But  the  trea- 
sonable plot  was  skilfully  and  comprehensively  laid, 
and  the  zealous  support  which  it  derived  from  the  papal 
machinery  soon  rendered  it  popular  with  the  masses. 
As  if  enamored  of  slavery  and  despotism,  the  people 
began  to  crowd  into  the  ranks  of  the  apostolic  party,  to 
second  its  declaration  in  favor  of  Don  Miguel  as  kiug, 
to  unite  in  its  shouts  of  "  Long  live  the  absolute  king," 
"  Down  with  the  constitutions,"  and  to  denounce,  abuse 
and  assault  those  who  refused  to  echo  its  suicidal  accla- 
mations. A  few  military  garrisons  which  still  with- 
stood the  popular  frenzy,  and  adhered  to  the  cause  of 
constitutional  government,  raised  the  standard  of  revolt; 


336  PAPAL  POLITICAL  i:ntriques 

and  being  joined  by  other  troops,  an  army  was  organ- 
ized which  marched  against  Lisbon.  It  was  met  by  the 
apostolic  army,  which  greatly  outnumbered  it ;  and  be- 
ing defeated,  the  liberal  junta  was  dissolved  and  Don 
Miguel  proclaimed  absolute  king.  In  1834  Don  Miguel 
was  defeated  by  Don  Pedro  IV.,  and  the  constitution  of 
1826  was  re-established  by  the  cortes. 


FAFAL    FOLITICAL    INTRI0UF8   IN 
8FAIN. 

"We  will  conclude  our  history  of  Papal  Political  In- 
trigues, by  a  cursory  glance  at  a  few  of  its  instances 
with  regard  to  the  government  of  Spain. 

Catholicism  was  introduced  into  Spain  in  586,  under 
the  reign  of  Reccared  I. ;  and  from  that  period  the 
governmental  affairs  were  controlled  by  the  political 
intrigues  of  the  clergy,  until  711,  when  the  kingdom 
became  a  province  of  the  Caliph  of  Bagdcd. 

The  Moorish  government  adopted  a  more  1-beral  pol- 
icy than  was  consistent  wdth  the  spirit  of  Catholicism. 
It  tolerated  the  free  exercise  of  all  religions.  It  per- 
mitted the  subjugated  to  retain  their  laws  and  magis- 
trates. Agriculture,  commerce,  arts  and  science  flour- 
ished under  its  auspices.  It  established  libraries  and 
universities ;  and,  from  the  hand  of  its  civilization 
Europe  has  received  the  knowledge  of  arithmetical 
characters,  of  gunpowder,  and  of  Ihe  art  of  manufac- 
turing rags  into  paper.  But  the  Infidels  who  conferred 
these  advantages  could  not  conciliate  the  proud  spirit 


IN   SPAIN.  337 

of  tKe  Spaniard  to  subjugation  under  foreign  rule,  nor 
the  pope  to  the  loss  of  revenues  derivable  from,  an  opu- 
lent kingdom.  A  national  struggle  for  indevisibility  of 
empire,  and  primogenitureship  in  succession  was  conse- 
quently inaugurated  ;  and  a  succession  of  conquests, 
from  1220  to  1491,  ultimated  in  the  reduction  of  the 
Moors  under  Castellian  supremacy.  "With  the  achieve- 
ment of  nationality,  and  the  discovery  of  South  Amer- 
ica, Spain  began  to  rank  with  the  first  powers  of  Europe. 
But  her  decline  was  as  rapid  as  her  elevation.  Besides 
the  conflicting  laws  and  customs  which  prevented  na- 
tional unity,  and  the  political  tyranny  which  oppressed 
the  masses,  a  rigorous  persecution  was  inaugurated 
against  the  Moors  and  Jews,  compelling  such  as  refused 
to  be  baptized  to  leave  the  kingdom. 

In  1520  Charles  V.  became  king  of  Spain,  and  subse- 
quently, also  Emperor  of  Germany.  After  suppressing 
an  insurrection  of  his  Spanish  subjects,  who  demanded 
a  liberal  constitution,  and  annihilating  the  last  vestige 
of  civil  liberty  by  separating  the  deliberative  estates, 
he  established  over  the  kingdom  a  military,  religious, 
and  political  despotism.  So  oppressive  was  his  admin- 
istration, and  so  reckless  were  his  expenditures,  that 
although  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Chili  poured  a  continual 
stream  of  wealth  into  the  public  treasury,  yet  excessive 
taxes  had  to  be  imposed,  and  enormous  loans  negotiated 
to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  rapacious  monarch. 

In  1555  Philip  II.  ascended  the  throne  of  Spain. 
The  Catholic  education  of  this  prince  fitted  him  bet- 
ter for  a  cloister  than  a  throne.  His  rapacity  empov- 
erished  the  nation,  and  his  religious  intolerance  perpet- 
ually convulsed  it  with  sedition  and  war.  His  devout- 
29 


33.8  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

est  wish,  was  to  extirpate  heretics,  and  his  most  pleasing 
sight  was  an  auto-da-fe,  in  which  he  could  behold  his 
subjects  expiring  in  the  flames.  Like  Sigismnnd,  the 
smell  of  burning  heretics  was  never  offensive  to  his 
nostrils.  His  inhuman  and  impolitic  course  having  led 
his  minister  to  intimate  that  he  was  depopulating  his 
kingdom  by  his  frequent  massacres,  he  replied  :  "  Bet- 
ter be  without  subjects  than  to  reign  over  heretics." 
As  cowardly  as  he  was  blood-thirsty,,  it  w^as  his  custom 
when  his  army  was  engaged  in  battle ^  to  retire  to  a  safe 
retreat  and  pray  for  its  success ;  and  whenever  a  victory 
was  achieved  to  assume  the  head  of  the  command,  as  if 
the  triumph  was  the  result  of  his  valor  and  military 
skill. 

Although  his  Catholicism  had  transformed  him  into 
merely  mechanical  part  of  the  papal  machinery,  without 
feeling  or  reason,,  yet  when  his  truce  with  France  was 
broken  by  the  interference  of  Pope  Paul  IV.,  and  his 
right  to  the  kingdom  of  Naples  was  declared  forfeited, 
he  awoke  from  his  lethargic  slumbers,  and  commissioned 
the  bloody  Alva  to  proceed  with  an  army  to  Eome  and 
chastise  the  holy  father  for  his  insulting  political  in- 
trigues. The  pope  alarmed,  and,  perhaps  surprised  at 
the  belligerent  attitude  of  a  king  once  so  remarkably 
obedient,  thought  it  better  to  consult  prudence  than 
the  divine  prerogatives  of  his  office,  and  to  avert  the 
impending  chastisement  by  subscribing  to  articles  of 
peace. 

In  11G9  Philip  III.  became  invested  with  the  royal 
dignity.  By  nature  a  tyrant,  by  temper  a  bigot,  with- 
out any  administrative  capacity,  and  educated  in  su- 
perstition and  intolerance,  he  seems  to  have  been  born 


IN   SPAIN.  839 

for  the  the  disgrace  and  destruction  of  the  throne  he 
inherited.  In  the  most  brilliant  period  of  Spanish  his- 
tory her  religious  despotism,  was  prophetic  of  her  pre- 
mature decay,  and  each  succeeding  reign  verifying 
the  prophecy,  she  now  tottered  on  the  verge  of 
ruin.  Favorites  were  allowed  to  waste  the  national 
revenues,  England  and  Holland  destroyed  the  Spanish 
commerce,  frequent  insurrections  destroyed  the  public 
peace ;  eight  hundred  thousand  Jews,  and  two  million 
Moors  were,  during  this  and  the  preceding  administra- 
tion driven  from  the  country  ;  and  to  complete  the  na- 
tional degradation  Spain  had  to  submit  to  the  suprem- 
acy of  England. 

In  1665  Charles  II.  succeeded  to  the  regal  authority. 
At  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1700,  he  made  Philip  of 
Anjou,  grandson  of  his  sister,  consort  of  Louis  XIV., 
the  sole  heir  of  his  dominion,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
division  of  the  empire,  which  had  been  resolved  upon  by 
France,  England  and  Holland.  This  will  led  to  the  war 
of  the  Spanish  succession,  notwithstanding  which  the 
Bourbon,  Philip  V.,  maintained  himself  on  the  Spanish 
throne. 

In  1759  Charles  III.  succeeded  to  the  tnrone  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy.  The  decaying  embers  of  liberalism 
which  had  began  to  scintillate  amid  the  gloom  of  des- 
potism, now  shone  forth  with  renewed  brilliancy.  Ge- 
nius and  intelligence,  which  alone  are  capable  of  grap- 
pling with  the  astute  principles  of  government,  and  of 
developing  the  latent  greatness  of  a  people,  were  for- 
tunately exhibited  in  the  favorite  publicists  and  states- 
men of  the  monarch.  Profound  and  elevated  views  of 
political  economy  began  to  characterize  the  administra- 


340  PAPAL    POLITICAL   INTPvIGUES 

tion ;  and  the  true  principles  of  commerce,  the  national 
importance  of  agriculture,  arts  and  manufacture,  and 
the  best  means  for  their  development,  became  more 
generally  understood  by  the  government  and  the  people. 
"With  Count  Florida  Blanca,  a  man  of  extraordinary 
ability  and  activity,  as  ambassador  at  Rome,  holding 
the  pope  in  check  ;  with  Aranda,  a  man  of  penetrating 
genius,  occupying  the  most  influential  position  of  the 
state ;  with  Olavides  enjoying  the  confidence  of  the 
monarch,  and  elaborating  laws  for  public  improve- 
ment ;  and  with  Campomanes,  a  scholar  of  varied  and 
profound  erudition,  as  fiscal  gaent  of  the  royal  council  of 
Castile,  defending  the  enlightened  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment against  the  attacks  of  bishops ;  equalizing  taxa- 
tion ;  and  reducing  the  number  of  mendicants,  the 
nation  could  not  but  increase  in  splendor  and  pros- 
perity, notwithstanding  it  had  became  involved  in  a 
formidable  war  which  raged  between  France  and  Eng- 
land. By  the  co-operation  of  these  patriotic  statesmen, 
whose  lofty  spirit  scowled  on  despotism  and  religious 
bigotry,  a  pragmatic  sanction  was  obtained  from  the 
government  which  restricted  the  inquisition,  banished 
the  Jesuists  from  the  Spanish  dominions,  and  confiscated 
their  property. 

But  Rome  and  her  priests  could  not  forgive  these 
benefactors  of  the  nation,  although  their  liberal  policy 
had  improved  every  department  of  government,  and 
had  added,  amid  the  disasters  of  war,  wealth  to  the 
treasury,  and  a  million  men  to  the  population.  Florida 
Blanca  w^as  disgraced,  imprisoned,  and  finally  banished 
to  his  estates.  Campomanes  was  removed  from  ofiice, 
and  disgraced.     Aranda,  who  so  greatly  contributed  to 


IN   SPAIN,  341 

public  security,  good  order,  and  tlie  abolition  of  abuses, 
after  passing  through  several  trying  vicissitudes,  was 
banished  to  Arragon.  And  Olavides,  in  the  midst  of 
his  beneficent  and  patriotic  labors  was  arrested  for  her- 
esy, and  imprisoned  in  a  monastic  dungeon. 

For  the  better  protection,  perhaps,  of  the  monarchy 
from  aggressions  from  without,  and  from  insubordina- 
tion from  within,  the  pope,  at  the  request  of  Charles 
III.,  declared  the  Spanish  monarchy  to  be  under  the  su- 
pervision of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  St.  James,  the 
former  protecting  genius  of  Spain,  was  formally  deposed 
from  office,  and  the  Virgin  Mary  duly  invested  wdth 
his  authority  and  jurisdiction.  The  truth  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception  was  demonstrated  beyond  prudent 
dispute  by  the  oaths  of  the  emperor  and  the  estates ; 
and  similar  oaths  were  made  the  indispensable  condi- 
tion of  all  who  should  henceforth  receive  a  university 
degree,  or  become  a  member  of  any  corporation  or  as- 
sociation. As  reverence  for  the  clergy  had  become  the 
substance  of  the  Catholic  religion,  so  now  invocations 
to  the  Virgin  Mary  became  the  principal  act  of 
devotion. 

In  1788  Charles  IV.  was  invested  with  the  imperial 
dignity.  In  1808  the  troops  of  Bonaparte  having  en- 
tered his  dominions,  he  welcomed  them  as  allies,  and 
shortly  aftewards  resigned  the  crown  in  favor  of  his 
son,  Ferdinand  VII.  A  month  had  not  elapsed  before 
ho  secretly  revoked  his  resignation,  and  finally  ceded 
his  right  to  the  crown  to  Napoleon,  who  placed  Joseph 
Bonaparte  on  the  throne.  Although  the  ministers  of 
Ferdinand  VII.,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  educated 
classes  of  Spaniards,  acknowledged  without  hesitation 
20- 


342  PAPAL    POLITICAL   INTPcIGUES 

the  authority  of  Joseph,  yet  the  monks  and  priests, 
whose  principles  and  interests  are  identified  with  des- 
potism, in  conjunction  with  the  absolutists,  and  sup- 
ported by  England,  found  sufficient  available  material 
in  the  change  of  dynasty,  in  the  arrogance  of  the 
French,  and  in  the  national  hostility  to  foreign  domina- 
tion, to  excite  a  general  insurrection  against  the  French 
regime,  and  in  favor  of  Ferdinand  VIL  as  king.  A 
junta  was  established  at  Seville  which  proclaimed  war 
against  France,  and  announced  an  alliance  between 
England  and  Spain.  A  desperate  struggle  was  now 
inaugurated,  which,  through  six  bloody  campaigns, 
ra-.-d  from  1808  to  1814  ;  during  which  every  import- 
ant city  was  successively  taken  and  lost,  and  every 
province  was  desolated  and  drenched  in  blood.  Ar- 
mies after  armies,  on  both  sides,  were  created  and  de- 
stroyed with  melancholy  rapidity.  The  papal  machin- 
ery held  the  people  in  such  absolute  control  that,  though 
the  French  gained  victory  after  victory,  abolishing  ay 
they  triumphed  the  feudal  privileges,  the  inquisition, 
the  monkish  order,  and  endeavored  by  the  most  liberal 
concessions  to  conciliate  the  popular  prejudices,  yet  thev 
retained  no  place  which  they  did  not  garrison.  Their 
ranks  were  constantly  thinned  by  the  secret  dagger, 
their  communications  cut  off  by  guerillas,  and  their 
wounded  murdered  in  cold  blood.  Insurgent  bands 
everywhere  carried  on  the  bloodiest  struggles,  and  wo- 
men took  a  fiendish  delight  in  torturing  ar.d  assassinat- 
ing the  captives  of  war.  A  length  the  dreadful  trag- 
edy was  closed,  by  the  victory  of  the  English  at 
Toulouse. 

Peace  being  restored  to  the  nation  the  cortes  assemb- 


IN-  spai:n'.  343 

led,  and  sliortly  afterwards  passed  a  resolution,  declar- 
ing that  before  Ferdinand  should  be  acknowledged  as 
king,  he  should  be  required  to  swear  to  support 
the  constitution  which  had  been  drawn  up  by  the 
cortes  of  1812,  and  which  had  been  acknowledged 
by  the  allies  of  Spain.  When  interrogated  as  to  his 
disposition  of  complying  with  the  demands  of  the 
cortes,  he  replied  in  a  tone  of  insolent  indifference  : 
"  I  have  not  thought  about  it."  To  fortify  the  abso- 
lute power  he  intended  to  usurp  he  professed  to  abhor 
despotism,  and  solemnly  pledged  his  honor  to  grant  the 
people  a  new  constitution,  founded  on  liberal  principles, 
and  which  would  afford  ample  protection  to  the  rights  of 
person  and  property,  and  to  the  freedom  of  the  press. 
But  the  motives  which  induced  him  to  make  these 
promises  did  not  urge  him  to  fulfil  them.  "While  he 
nullified  the  old  constitution,  he  did  not  restrict  his 
authority  by  a  new  one  ;  but  in  the  exercise  of  abso- 
lute power  arrested  the  officers  who  served  under  Jo- 
seph Bonaparte,  and  banished  them  with  their  wives 
and  children ;  abolished  freemasonry  ;  restored  the  Je- 
suists ;  re-established  the  inquisition  ;  put  liberals  to 
the  rack  ;  executed  all  who  opposed  the  domineering 
pretensions  of  the  priests  ;  imprisoned  those  who  ven- 
tured to  remonstrate  against  his  measures  ;  incarcerated 
in  monastic  dungeons  the  members  of  the  cortes ;  and 
domineered  with  absolute  despotism  over  the  lives  and 
fortunes  of  his  subjects.  These  severe  proceedings,  in- 
tended to  intimidate  insurgents,  produced  disloyalty, 
confusion  and  anarchy.  The  army  became  dissatisfied  ; 
the  people  insubordinate  ;  the  country  infested  with 
plundering  and  murdering  guerillas ;  and,  encouraged 


344  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

by  this  turbulent  state  of  affairs,  four  battalions,  in 
1819,  under  Riago,  declared  for  tbe  constitution  of  1812. 
The  progress  of  this  revolution  was  strenuously  opposed 
by  the  allied  forces  of  the  monks,  the  priests,  and  the 
absolutists.  The  bishop  of  Cienfuegos  defeated  it  at 
Cadiz.  But  the  people  inhaling  the  patriotic  enthusi- 
asm, arose  in  masses  in  its  favor,  and  even  the  apostolics 
deserted  their  commanders.  Ferdinand  deprived  of 
troops,  and  almost  of  adherents,  found  himself  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  demands  of  the  people.  A  provisional 
junta  was  established  to  conduct -the  public  affairs, 
before  which  Ferdinand  appeared  and  swore  to  support 
the  constitution  of  1812.  The  inquisition  was  abolished. 
The  cortes  assembled,  and  in  a  session  of  four  months, 
endeavored  by  the  means  of  moderate  measures  to  con- 
ciliate the  prejudices  and  interests  of  contending  fac- 
tions, and  to  restore  harmony  and  vigor  to  the  nation. 
The  clergy  and  absolutists,  whom  no  concession  could 
satisfy,  except  that  of  unrestricted  monarchy,  organ- 
ized a  conspiracy  for  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution  ; 
and  as  the  cortes  had  in  their  reformatory  measures 
abolished  some  convents,  and  banished  all  non-juring 
priests,  they  appealed  to  the  religious  frenzy  of  the 
people,  and  succeeded  in  creating  considerable  opposi- 
tion to  the  constitutions.  In  the  interest  of  this  coun- 
ter revolution  an  apostolic  junta  was  established  on  the 
frontiers  of  Portugal,  for  the  avowed  design  of  destroy- 
ing the  privileges  of  the  crown  and  the  clergy.  Nu- 
merous bands  of  armed  monks  and  iDcasants  appeared 
in  the  different  provinces ;  and  their  bold  assassinations 
and  barbarous  acts  produced  such  universal  consterna- 
tion, that   the   cortes  declared  the   whole  country  in  a 


IN  SPAIN.  345 

state  of  siege.  It  was  now  evident  that  tlie  priests 
and  monks  who  had  stimulated  the  peasants  to  insur- 
rection had  been  instigated  by  the  French  government. 
But  the  cortes  met  the  conspirators  with  skilful  and 
vigorous  measures,  and  having  vanquished  them  in 
every  engagement,  succeeded  finally  in  effecting  the 
disbandment  of  their  forces. 

In  1822  another  attempt  was  made  to  subvert  the 
constitution.  At  Soi  d'Urgel,  on  the  confines  of  France, 
the  absolutists  established  a  regency  under  the  Marquis 
Mataflounda.  France  was  the  instigator  of  this  regen- 
cy, and  supported  it  with  her  influence  and  money. 
The  army  of  the  absolutists,  composed  of  apostolic 
soldiers,  and  soldiers  of  the  faith,  were  met  by  the 
united  strength  of  the  nation,  and  overwhelmed  with 
defeat.  The  regency  fled  to  France.  But  this  evidence 
of  the  capability  and  determination  of  Spain  to  main- 
tain a  constitutional  government,  awakened  into  oppo- 
sition every  element  of  despotism,  not  only  within  her 
borders,  but  within  all  Europe.  The  pope  refused  to 
receive  the  Spanish  ambassadors.  The  nuncio  left 
Madrid;  France,  Austria,  and  Prussia  demanded  of 
the  cortes  that  they  should  restore  to  Ferdinand 
full  sovereign  powers,  and  England  advised  acom- 
pliance  with  the  demand.  The  Duke  Angouleme, 
the  commander  of  the  French  forces,  established  a 
junta  which  formed  a  provisional  government  on  abso- 
lute principles,  and  declared  the  acts  of  the  cortes  null 
and  void.  France  raised  an  army  of  the  soldiers  of 
the  faith,  who  were  received  by  the  Spanish  clergy  with 
acclamations  of  joy,  and  termed  by  them  "Good 
Christians."     The  peasantry,  controlled  by  the  priests, 


346  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

espoused  tlie  cause  of  the  absolutists,  tut  the  army,  the 
educated  classes,  and  the  people  residing  in  cities  gen- 
erally adhered  to  the  party  of  the  constitutionalists. 

The  dictatorial  interference  of  foreign  powers  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  a  sovereign  nation,  and  their  attempts 
to  defeat  a  governmental  reform  which  they  had  sanc- 
tioned, and  which,  to  achieve  had  cost  the  nation  so 
much  treasure,  and  so  many  valuable  lives,  fired  the  na- 
tive pride  and  heroism  of  the  Spanish  character,  and 
united  the  different  factions  of  the  constitutionalists  in 
a  solid  body  in  favor  of  their  country  and  its  liberty. 
Though  few  in  number,  without  allies,  and  without  pe- 
cuniary resources,  yet  they  were  full  of  energy  and  he- 
roic courage.  The  cortes  repelled  with  patriotic  indig- 
nation the  insolent  interposition  of  foreign  powers,  and 
prepared  for  the  doubtful  contest  with  consummate 
skill.  As  the  church  had  been  the  chief  cause  of  the 
national  calamity,  they  appropriated  its  surplus  plate 
to  the  necessity  of  the  public  treasury.  The  soldiers  of 
the  faith,  and  their  guerilla  bands,  exclusively  requir- 
ing the  attention  of  the  national  guards  and  of  the 
soldiers  of  the  line,  the  cortes  found  themselves  with- 
out an  efficient  army  to  oppose  the  march  of  the  French 
troops,  and  the  apostolic  forces.  This  serious  disadvan- 
tage enabled  the  absolutists  to  march  on  from  victory 
to  victory ;  and  though  some  places  made  a  good  de- 
fence, and  others  a  stubborn  and  desperate  resistance, 
yet  others  submitted  with  scarceiy  a  struggle.  The 
gloom  which  now  overshadowed  the  prospects  of  the 
constitutionalists,  was  ominously  deepened  by  the  de- 
fection of  some  of  their  generals.  But  the  undaunted 
firmness  of  the  remaining  leaders,  and  the  unequalled 


IN   SPAIIT.  347 

"boldness  and  skill  which  characterized  their  niancKuvres, 
desperately  disputed  inch  by  inch  the  progress  of  the 
monarchists,  until  the  fall  of  Valencia  terminated  the 
eventful  struggle,  so  honorable  to  the  constitutionalists, 
so  disgraceful  to  Europe,  and  so  full  of  admonition  to 
freemen.  The  bloody  contests  in  which  the  liberals 
had  been  engaged  greatly  depleted  their  ranks,  and 
now  dungeons,  exile,  and  the  secret  dagger  nearly  com- 
pleted their  annihilation.  Under  these  depressing  cir- 
cumstances, the  cortes  invested  Ferdinand  with  abso- 
lute power.  The  apostolics,  the  soldiers  of  the  faith, 
the  clergy  and  the  uneducated  classes,  hailed  him  with 
acclamations  of  "  Long  live  the  absolute  king;"  "  Long 
live  religion;"  "  Death  to  the  nation;"  "Death  to  the 
negroes."  Ferdinand  then  declared  null  and  void  all 
the  acts  of  the  constitutional  government,  and  all  the 
public  approvals  by  which  he  had  sanctioned  them. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  introduce  the  inquisition,  but 
the  liberals,  supported  by  France,  and  even  approv- 
ed by  the  pope,  successfully  resisted  the  obnoxious 
measure.  In  1832,  the  infirmities  of  Ferdinand  having 
rendered  him  the  dupe  of  designing  favorites,  he  cre- 
ated Christina,  the  queen,  regent  for  the  infanta  Isa- 
bella, his  daughter.  In  1837  the  regent  was  obliged, 
by  an  insurrection,  to  proclaim  the  constitution  of 
1812.  In  1843,  Isabella  having  attained  her  majority, 
was  declared  queen.  The  constitution,  revised  and 
deprived  of  its  democratic  provisions,  was  substituted 
for  that  of  1837.  After  the  adoption  of  this  constitu- 
tion the  municipal  privileges  were  abridged,  the  sale  of 
the  sequestered  church  property  suspended,  and  extra- 
ordinary provisions  devised  for  the  support  of  the  clergy. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

PAPAL   INTRIG  UPS'   RPSPPOTING   THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

Papal  Intrigues — Catholic  Persecution — Protestant  Per- 
secution  —  Catholics  in  the  Revolutionary  War — In 
the  late  Pehellion — Catholic  Enmity  to  Civil  and  Re- 
ligious Liberty — An  Alliance  formed  for  the  Subver- 
sion of  the  American  Republic — The  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond's Letter — Catholic  Immigration — Progress  of 
Catholicism — Its  Consequences — The  Republic  in  Im- 
minent Danger —  Union  Only  Means  'of  Salvation — 
Conclusion. 

That  the  papal  pretensions  have  been  a  fruitful  source 
of  the  seditions  and  wars  which,  like  successive  tor- 
nadoes, have  swept  in  fearful  rapidity  over  Christendom, 
the  records  of  history  furnish  the  most  unquestionable 
evidence  ;  yet  still  no  one  will  venture  the  assertion 
that  popish  machinations  have  been  the  sole  cause  of 
jDolitical  discords.  Treason  and  popular  disaffection 
have  revolutionized  and  annihilated  government  after 
government  long  before  the  throne  of  St.  Peter  was 
established ;  yet  since  that  unfortunate  period  it  cannot 
be  denied,  that  whenever  the  causes  of  civil  or  foreign 
war  became  active,  the  sacerdotal  monarchs  have 
inflamed  or  soothed  them  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  interests.  Through  their  intrigues  the  extermin- 
ating sword  of  Charlemagne  compelled  the  Saxons  to  be 
baptized ;  and  that  of  Otho  I.  compelled  the  Danes  to 


IN    THE    UNITED   STATES.  349 

accept  ilie  same  rite.  Through  their  intrigues  Clovis 
was  induced,  by  his  Catholic  wife,  to  consent  to  be  bap- 
tized ;  and  his  troops  who  had  followed  him  to  the  field 
of  slaughter,  were  led  to  follow  him  also  to  the  baptismal 
fount.  By  the  same  means  Ethelbert,  who  wished  to 
marry  Bertha,  daughter  of  Carobert,  King  of  Paris, 
was  persuaded  to  agree  to  matrimonial  stipulations 
allowing  her,  upon  becoming  his  wife,  to  bring  her 
bishop  with  her,  and  permitting  him  to  establish  a  Cath- 
olic church  in  the  kingdom  for  her  convenience.  By 
the  same  artful  means  Ethelwolf  was  led  to  confer  on 
the  clergy  the  tithes  of  all  the  produce  of  the  land ; 
Alfred  the  Great,  to  expel  from  his  kingdom  all  the 
Danes  that  refused  to  be  baptized  ;  Edward  to  accept 
the  title  of  saint  and  confessor  in  lien  of  an  heir  to  his 
throne,  and  to  consent  to  abstain  from  nuptial  congress 
with  his  queen  ;  Edward  IV.  to  promulgate  a  law  com- 
mitting to  the  flames  all  persons  convicted  of  the  her- 
esy of  the  Lollards ;  and  Mary  I.,  a  person  of  good 
natural  qualities  and  administrative  abilities,  to  imprison 
Protestant  bishops  for  high  treason,  to  confine  princess 
Elizabeth  in  the  tower,  to  execute  Lady  Jane  Gray  and 
her  husband  Guilford  Dudley,  to  provoke  the  insurrec- 
tions of  Cave  and  Wyat,  to  commit  to  the  flames  two 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  of  her  innocent  subjects, 
and  to  render  herself  a  terror  to  her  nation.  By  the 
same  disgraceful  and  impertinent  intrigues  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  perpetually  disturbed  with  efl'orts 
to  overthrow  her  government.  The  popes  excommuni- 
cated her ;  denied  her  legitimacy  ;  endeavored  to  sup- 
plant her  with  Mary  Queen  of  Scots;  induced  the 
French  to  support  Scotland  in  a  rebellion  against  her 
30 


350  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

government;  created  a  sedition  in  the  north;  incited 
Spain  to  promote  a  conspiracy  against  her,  assisted  by 
Florentine  m^erchants,  the  Bishop  of  Ross,  and  the 
Scotchmen  residing  in  Enghind  ;  and  when  all  these 
efforts  proved  abortive,  to  organize  a  conspiracy  to  have 
her  assassinated  by  Anthony  Babington.  By  the  same 
disastrous  intermeddling  the  reign  of  Queen  Ann  was 
disturbed  with  efforts  to  restore  the  succession  to  James 
the  Pretender,  the  pope's  tool  for  the  recovery  of  Eng- 
land; under  that  of  George  I.  the  Duke  of  Marie- 
borough  was  led  to  prockiim  the  Pretender  in  Scotland ; 
Cardinal  Alberoni,  minister  of  Spain,  to  form  an  alli- 
ance in  his  favor  with  Russia,  Sweden,  France  and 
Spain  ;  and  Atterbury,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  to  engage 
in  a  conspiracy  for  the  same  object.  Similar  papal 
machinations  have  interfered  with  the  peace  of  France, 
Germany,  Spain,  Portugal,  Belgium,  Sweden,  Russia, 
Poland,  China,  Japan,  Egypt,  Abyssinia,  and  of  many 
other  governments,  all  of  which  were  fearfully  pro- 
ductive of  sedition,  anarchy,  war  and  revolutions. 

Besides  these  intermeddlings  with  the  national  affairs 
of  all  governments,  the  Catholic  church  assails  all  non- 
Catholics  with  the  most  execrable  persecution,  openly 
when  she  dares,  secretly  when  she  must.  In  her  fiend- 
ish malice  she  counsels  the  violation  of  every  principle 
of  justice,  of  every  obligation  of  humanity,  of  all  con- 
tracts, of  all  pecuniary  engagements,  of  all  oaths,  and 
urges  as  a  duty  the  persecution  and  extermination 
of  all  unbelievers,  by  means  of  corporeal  punishment, 
by  imprisonment,  banishment,  murder,  fire,  swords, 
racks,  stakes  and  scaffolds.  Hear  the  truth  of  these 
assertions  from  the  sanctified  lips  of  the  holy  mother 
herself: 


IN"   THE   UNITED    STATES.  351 

"  The  Catholics  believe  that  the  Pope's  authority  is 
not  only  ministerial  but  supreme,  so  that  he  has  the 
right  to  direct  and  compel,  with  the  power  of  life  and 
death." — Ecc.  Jacob.  2Iag.,  But.  Reg.  Oppos.  c.  138. 

"  Two  swords  were  given  to  Peter,  the  one  temporal, 
the  other  spiritual." — Bernard  de  Consed.  Lib.  4  :  c.  3. 

"  She  (the  church)  bears,  by  divine  right,  both 
swords,  but  she  exercises  the  temporal  sword  by  the 
hand  of  the  prince,  or  the  magistrate.  The  temj^oral 
magistrate  holds  it  subject  to  her  order,  to  be  exercised 
in  her  service,  and  under  her  direction." — Bronsons 
Bcv.,  Jan.,  1854. 

"  Both  swords  are  in  the  power  of  the  Pope,  namely, 
the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  sword  ;  but  the  one  is  to 
be  exercised  by  the  church,  the  other  for  the  church  ; 
the  one  by  the  hands  of  the  priest,  the  other  by  the 
hands  of  the  king  and  the  soldiers,  but  as  the  sword  of 
the  priest." — Pope  Boniface,  Corp.  Jur.  Con.  cd.  Bochcr, 
tome  11:  p.  1139. 

"Civil  contracts,  promises,  or  oaths  of  Catholics  with 
heretics,  because  they  are  heretics,  may  be  dissolved  by 
the  Pontiff." — Pope  Innocent  X.,  Caron.  14. 

Engagements  made  with  heretics  and  schismatics  of 
this  kind,  after  such  have  been  consummated,  are  incon- 
siderate, illegal,  and  in  law  itself  is  of  no  importance, 
(although  made,  per  chance,  by  the  lapse  of 'those  per- 
sons into  schism,  or  before  the  beginning  of  their  heresy), 
even  if  confirmed  by  an  oath,  or  one's  honor  being 
pledged." — Pope  Urban  VI.,  Bymerl:  352. 

"  Though  sworn  to  pay  he  may  refuse  the  claims  of 
a  debtor  who  falls  into  error  or  under  excommunication. 
The  debtor's  oath  implied  the  tacit  condition  that  the 
creditor,  to  be  entitled  to  payment,  should  remain  in  a 
state  in  which  communication  would  be  lawful.'' — St, 
Bernard,  Mayrwoth  Report,  260. 


352  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

"  There  are  various  punishments  with  which  ecclesi- 
astical sanctions  and  imperial  laws  order  heretics  to  be 
punished.  Some  are  spiritual,  and  effect  the  soul  alone ; 
others  are  corporeal,  and  effect  the  body.  .  .  Among 
the  corporeal  punishments,  one  which  very  much  annoys 
heretics  is  the  proscription  and  confiscation  of  their 
property." — Alphonso  de  Castro,  cap.  5  :  p.  98. 

"Another  punishment,"  says  he,  "is  the  deprival  of 
every  sort  of  preeminence,  jurisdiction  and  government, 
which  they  previously  had  over  all  persons  of  all  con- 
ditions ;  for  he  who  is  a  heretic  is,  ipso  jure,  deprived  of 
all  things." — lb.,  cap.  7  :  p.  1055. 

"  The  last  punishment  of  the  body  for  heretics,"  he 
informs  us,  "  is  death,  with  which  we  will  prove,  by 
God's  assistance,  heretics  ought  to  be  punished." — Ih., 
cap.  12 :  p.  123. 

But  it  will  be  said  that  Protestants  have  been  guilty 
of  persecution  as  well  as  Catholics.  This  assertion  is 
unquestionably  true.  We  confess,  with  regret,  that 
Protestantism,  although  she  admits  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  has  proved  a  foe  to  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
But  unlike  Catholicism,  she  has  made  concessions;  reluct- 
antly, indeed,  but  still  she  has  made  them.  Guizot  con- 
fesses that  her  practice  has  necessarily  been  inconsist- 
ent with* her  profession  of  toleration.  She,  however, 
claims  not,  like  Catholicism,  to  be  the  source  and  su- 
preme controller  of  all  political  power ;  nor  to  be  the 
sole  disposer  of  crowns  and  kingdoms ;  nor  has  she 
elaborated  a  policy,  adopted  a  systematic  course  of 
measures,  and  organized  a  clerical  force  for  the  acqui- 
sition of  supreme  and  universal  temporal  and  spiritual 
dominion.  She  has  no  central  head,  with  spies  penetrat- 
ing all  domestic  and  national  secrets,  and  communicat- 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES.  353 

ing  to  it  the  information  they  have  acquired.     She  has 
no  political  machinery  ramifying  every  part  of  Chris- 
tendom, and  acting  in  concert    for   the     promotion  of 
her  interests.      She   has  no  convents,   nor  nunneries; 
nor   monastic  vows  ;  no  father  confessors  ;  no  religious 
confessional; no  religious  orders,   no  military  knights; 
and  no  spiritual  guides.     She  imposes  no  oaths  of  alle- 
giance  on  her  priests,  requiring  them  to  adopt  every 
available  method  of*  subjugating  all  government  under 
her  authority.     She  has  no  inquisition,  no  rack  and  tor- 
ture for  her  opponents  ;  no  pretensions  to  absolve  sub- 
jects from  their  oaths   of  allegiance;  no   interdicts  to 
alarm  superstitious  minds  by  the  suspension  of  religious 
worship  in  disaffected  kingdoms.     She  has  never  inter- 
fered between  rulers  and  their  subjects,  concocting  trea- 
son, fomenting  sedition,   and  producing  anarchy.     She 
has  never  organized  armies  for  the  extension  of  her  do- 
minion, and  for  the  subjugation  of  kingdoms  to  her  au- 
thority.     She   has   never   butchered   whole    cities   for 
unbelief,  nor  in    one    day  put  one  hundred  thousand 
heretics  to  death.     She  has  done  none  of  these  things, 
yet  her  hands  are  not  unstained  with  innocent  blood. 
Would  they  were.     Henry  YIII.,  of  England,  perse- 
cuted  with  equal  severity  those  who  believed  in  the 
pope's  right  to  temporal  power,  and  those  who  disbe- 
lieved the  other  dogmas  of  Catholicism.     The  Church 
of  England,   under  Charles   I.,  inflicted  the  most  atro- 
cious punishment  on  the  Irish  Catholics  ;  under  James 
I.,  on  tho  Puritans  ;  and  under  Elizabeth,  it  oppressed 
both  Catholics  and  dissenters  with  tyrannical  measures, 
and  illiberal  disabilities.     The  Puritan  Cromwell  perse- 
cuted both  Catholics  and  Episcopalians.     In  Ireland  he 
31* 


354  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

wasted  the  Catholics  with  fire  and  sword ;  in  Scotland 
he  put  whole  garrisons  of  dissenters  to  death ;  and  as 
his  schemes  for  obtaining  the  royal  dignity  suggested, 
persecuted  Covenanters,  Republicans,  and  Puritans. 
When  Charles  11.  was  elevated  to  the  throne  he  deprived 
2000  dissenting  clergymen  of  their  livings  ;  and  by  his 
five-mile  act  prohibited  them  from  approaching  within 
five  miles  of  their  former  parishes.  But  the  rigor  of 
Protestantism  eventually  relaxed  its  severity.  Un- 
der William  III.  some  of  the  disabilities  which  oppressed 
the  dissenters  were  removed  ;  and  under  that  of  George 
III.  additional  toleration  was  accorded.  Still  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  ablest  agents  in  extorting  these 
concessions  to  religious  liberty  were  the  Free  Thinkers 
of  that  age.  Yet  the  Quakers,  always  the  most  respect- 
able body  of  citizens,  and  the  professors  of  the  most 
harmless  of  all  creeds,  were  still  punished  with  fines, 
confiscation,  imprisonment  and  death.  All  who  disbe- 
lieved in  the  holy  trinity  were  also  subject  to  similar 
persecutions,  Kot  until  1813  did  Protestant  England 
cease  to  punish  a  belief  in  Unitarianism  with  imprison- 
ment, and  legal  disabilities.  John  Calvin,  at  the  head 
of  the  Consistory  of  Geneva,  had  John  Guet  beheaded 
on  a  charge  of  attempting  to  overthrow  the  doctrines  of 
the  Calvinistic  church  ;  and  Micheal  Servetus  arrested 
and  burnt  alive  for  having  attacked  the  doctrine  of  the 
holy  trinity.  Even  in  republic  America,  under  the  ele- 
vating influence  of  liberal  institutions,  the  intolerant 
spirit  of  religious  bigotry  predominates  more  or  less 
over  the  mind  of  the  Christian  republic.  In  Massachu- 
setts Baptists  and  Quakers  were  once  fined,  imprisoned, 
and  burnt  alive.     In  Virginia  all  Quakers  that  disbe- 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES,  355 

liered  in  the  holy  trinity,  and  all  persons  ttat  refused 
to  have  their  children  baptized  ^ve^e  scourged,  confined, 
banished  or  put  to  death.  In  Pennsylvania,  under  the 
charter  of  "William  Pena,  all  Atheists  Avere  excluded 
from  official  position.  In  Maryland  disbelief  in  the 
holy  trinity  -was  declared  to  be  a  capital  offence ;  and 
not  -until  recently  -^-as  any  person,  who  professed  not  to 
believe  in  Christianity,  unless  a  Jew,  eligible  to  any 
office  of  trust  or  profit  in  the  State  ;  nor  even  to  this 
day  is  any  person  eligible  who  disbelieves  in  a  God. 
The  statute  books  of  every  Protestant  country  bear 
testimony  to  the  same  illiberality.  Humboldt,  Cuvier, 
Buffon,  La  Place,  Gibbon,  Voltaire,  Hume,  Jefferson, 
and  other  eminent  scholars  and  patriots  would,  by  the 
prorisions  of  almost  every  State  constitution  in  the 
Union,  be  debarred  from  filling  the  lowest  office  that 
they  create.  In  fact  the  history  of  no  religious  sectary 
indicates  it  to  be  a  bond  of  love,  union,  or  concord. 
Every  Protestant  creed,  sectary  or  conclave,  is  a  per- 
petual source  of  mutual  jealousy,  animosity  and  perse- 
cution. The  same  intolerant  spirit  breathes  its  malig- 
nancy over  the  pages  of  the  religious  press.  ""  If  we 
are  not  Christians,"  says  the  Church  Uyiion,  "  let  us 
make  no  hvpoeritical  pretensions  of  founding  govern- 
ments on  Christian  principles.  If  we  are,  I  believe 
that  they  should  predominate  over  our  whole  life;  let 
us  have  them  incorporated  in  the  basis  of  our  govern- 
ment, and  the  national  policy  shaped  by  them.  Let  no 
one  hold  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  whose  life  is  not 
conformably  thereto."  These  holy  ravings  remind  us 
of  an  attempt  once  made  by  the  Puritans  to  incorporate 
the  Bible  into  the  British  constitution.     "  The  wrestlers 


356  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTEIGUES 

with  God,"  as  they  called  themselves  were,  deliberating 
upon  a  motion  to  repeal  the  laws  of  England,  and  sub- 
stitute in  their  place  the  laws  of  Moses  and  the  proph- 
ets. But  Cromwell  averted  the  calamity  "by  a  peremp- 
tory dissolution  of  parliament,  and  a  command  to  "  the 
wrestlers"  to  go  home,'  nor  did  he  think  it  prudent  to 
call  them  together  again.  The  religious  politics  of  the 
Methodist  Home  Journal  are  similar  in  tone  with  that 
of  the  ChurcJi  Union.  This  infuriated  orthodox  theo- 
logian says  :  "  They  that  deny  the  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, ignore  the  basis  on  which  our  government  is 
founded.  Can  they  be  regarded  as  citizens?  Ought 
any  man  who  holds  to  this  position  be  admitted  to — or 
permitted  to  hold  Christian  citizenship  under  this  gov- 
ernment? We  hold  that  to  be  consistent  with  our- 
selves Infidelity  should  not  be  tolerated  in  our  country, 
much  less  encouraged  by  those  who  openly  profess-  and 
teach  its  doctrines."  These  assertions  are  the  evident 
irrepressible  ebullitions  of  innate  treason  to  the  repub- 
lic. They  ingore  the  basis  on  which  our  government  is 
founded,  and,  according  to  the  logic  of  this  fanatic  the 
sect  that  holds  them  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  citi- 
zens, nor  permitted  to  hold  Christian  citizenship  under 
this  government.  But  the  knife  with  which  this  mad- 
'man  wo-uld  cut  his  own  throat 'Infidelity  would  wrest 
-from  him.  The  sacred  basis  of  our  government  is 
'equal  political  and  religious  rights.  Had  Methodism 
'been  chosen  as  the  basis  of  our  government,  would  a 
■republic  have  been  thought  of?  Kever  f  Did  not 
•John  Wesley,  its  founder  and  sj^irit,  oppose- the  Ameri- 
can revolution  ?  Did  he  not  write  against  it,  preach 
'against  it,  and  labor  publicly  and"  privately  to  arrest  its 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES.     '  357 

progress  ?  Was  there  a  man  in  England  that  inflicted 
deeper  injury  on  the  American  cause  ?  While  English 
Infidels  aided  the  struggle  for  independence  with  their 
pens,  money  and  valor, — while  English  statesmen 
blushed  at  the  barbarous  conduct  of  their  government, — 
this  bigoted  priest,  a  fugitive  of  justice  from  the  State 
of  North  Carolina,  defended  it  without  shame  or  com- 
punction. Even  at  this  day  Potestant  priests  have 
dared  to  assert  that  Infidels  have  no  rights  which  they 
are  bound  to  respect ;  but  such  miscreants  have  no 
Tights,  (for  they  surrender  them  by  their  assertions,) 
which  any  person  is  bound  to  respect.  Such  self- 
accursed,  self-outlawed  bigots,  in  conjunction  with  un- 
principled demagogues  and  political  aspiring  judges, 
are  to-day  laboring  to  incorporate  in  the  national  con- 
stitution the  fanaticism  of  the  Church  Union  and  of 
the  Methodist  Some  Journal.  When  their  holy  trea- 
son shall  have  become  a  success,  liberty  will  forsake 
her  desecrated  abode ;  despotism  will  occupy  her 
temple  ;  and,  we  fondly  hope  that,  in  the  course  of 
coming  events  the  fanatics  will  not  discover  that  they 
have  legalized  their  own  extermination.  Had  Constan- 
tino the  Great,  though  frenzied  with  ambition  and 
crimsoned  with  guilt,  beheld  the  boundless  ocean  of 
gore  which  was  destined  to  flow  from  an  incorporation 
of  Christianity  with  the  civil  power,  and  to  roll  its 
heavy  surge  over  all  future  time,  he  would  have  been 
more  obdurate  than  a  fiend  had  he  not  cowled  his  head 
in  horror  at  the  frightful  vision,  and  dropped  in  mercy 
the  pen  already  inked  to  inaugurate  the  tremendous 
•catastrophe.  Yet  how  sickening  is  the  thought  that  the 
-example  of  ihis  ambitious  tyrant,- loaded  with  the  curves 


358  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

of  ages,  is  now  attempted  to  be  imitated  by  Protestant 
priests,  political  judges,  and  United  States  officials. 
But  thanks  to  nature,  the  play  of  the  natural  principles 
of  liberty  in  the  minds  of  some  priests,  have  been  too 
strong  to  be  repressed  by  dogmatic  creeds.  Gloriously 
inconsistent  with  their  principles,  they  have  inscribed 
their  names  in  imperishable  honor  on  the  scroll  of  lib- 
erty. Thankful  for  the  few  names  blazoned  there, 
freedom  must  drop  a  tear  over  the  smallness  of  the 
number. 

It  will  be  asked,  perhaps,  notwithstanding  the  facts 
which  have  been  adduced  showing  the  political  nature 
and  designs  of  the  Catholic  church,  what  has  the  Amer- 
ican republic  to  apprehend  from  it?  It  will  be  asked, 
Did  not  Catholics  fight  for  the  establishment  of  a  free 
government  in  the  revolutionary  war  ?  Did  they  not 
fight  to  defend  it  in  the  war  of  1812  ?  Did  they  not 
fight  to  preserve  its  unity  in  the  late  rebellion  ?  No 
well  informed  person  will  answer  these  questions  in  the 
negative  ;  and  no  candid  person  will  fail  to  acknowledge 
the  distinguished  valor  and  liberality  which  they  dis- 
played on  these  occasions.  Catholics  are  men  ;  and  the 
love  of  liberty  is  a  natural  principle  of  the  human  con- 
stitution. Ignorance  may  blind  it ;  prejudice  mislead 
it ;  and  superstition  overawe  it ;  but  when  the  natural 
vigor  of  its  disposition  is  aroused  it  will  assert  its  rights 
in  defiance  of  creeds,  shackles  and  stakes.  It  is  not  the 
nature,  but  the  education  of  Catholics,  and  the  religious 
despotism  with  which  they  are  enthralled,  that  has  so 
often  deprived  freedom  of  their  homage  and  allegiance. 
The  frequent  opposition  of  Catholic  princes  to  the 
policy  and  measures  of  the  popes,  the  numerous  leagues 


IN    THE   UNITED   STATES.  359 

which  they  have  formed,  and  the  vast  armies  which 
they  have  raised  in  their  support,  abundantly  show  how 
often  their  reverence  for  the  pope  has  been  displaced 
by  defiance  to  his  authority,  and  contempt  for  his  pre- 
tensions. The  liberal  minded  people  of  France  have, 
from  an  early  date,  boldly  opposed  the  pope's  claim  to 
temporal  power.  St.  Louis  IX.,  in  1269,  declared  in  a 
pragmatic  sanction,  that  the  temporal  power  of  France 
was  independent  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Rome.  Charles 
VIII.,  of  France,  in  a  pragmatic  sanction  issued  in 
1433,  asserted  for  France,  in  conformity  with  the  canons 
of  the  Council  of  Basle,  independence  of  Rome  in  all 
temporal  matters.  Louis  XIV.,  in  1682  convened  a 
national  council  of  the  clergy  at  Paris,  which  decided 
that  the  Pope  of  Rome  had  no  power  to  interfere,  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  the  temporal  concerns  of  princes  and 
sovereigns ;  that  the  visages  of  the  French  church  are 
inviolable ;  that  the  authority  of  the  general  councils 
is  superior  to  that  of  the  pope  ;  and  that  the  pope  is  n.ot 
infallible  in  matters  of  faith.  The  popes,  by  the  means 
of  bulls,  have  attempted  to  nullify  these  acts,  but  nev- 
ertheless they  form  the  distinctive  principles  of  the 
Gallican  Church,  and  also  of  other  Catholic  churches  in 
different  kingdoms  of  Europe.  Th^  Fenian  order  is 
another  happy  instance  of  the  predominance  which  pa- 
triotism may  gain,  in  the  minds  of  Catholics, .over  their 
reverence  for  the  church  and  its  despotism. 

If  Catholics  have  at  various  times  chastised  the  pope, 
deprived  him  of  temporal  authority,  assaulted  his  per- 
son, imprisoned  and  deposed  him,  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  they  fought  in  the  defence  of  the  independ- 
ence and  freedom  of  America.     No  one  that  has  an 


360  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

adequate  conception  of  the  papal  policy,  will  be  mucli 
astonished  that  the  Catholics  were  prominent  leaders  in 
the  revolutionary  war.  It  was  a  cause  in  which  the 
pope  himself,  in  perfect  consistency  with  his  pretensions, 
might  have  25ersonally  engaged.  The  pope  claims  Eng- 
land as  his  fief,  and  denounces  her  kings  as  usurpers. 
The  success  of  a  revolt  intended  to  deprive  England  of 
her  colonies  was  as  gratifying  to  his  revenge  as  it  was 
flattering  to  his  ulterior  designs  on  the  colonies  them- 
selves. In  a  republic  he  could  plant  his  machinery, 
build  up  at  will  his  monastic  penitentiaries,  erect  his 
strong  castle-like  and  secret-celled  churches,  leisurely 
select  and  occupy  eligible  and  strategic  points  for  cita- 
dels, and  collect  from  every  kingdom  his  most  faithful 
and  reliable  subjects.  Bishop  Hughes  asserted  that 
Catholicism  was  friendly  to  republics,  for  they  allowed 
its  free  development.  But  the  development  of  Cathol- 
icism involves  the  subversion  of  republics,  and  the 
establishment  in  their  place  of  political  and  religious 
despotism. 

The  insincerity  of  any  proposed  attachment  to  the 
American  republic  by  popes  or  priests,  is  attested  by 
the  very  occurrence  of  the  Southern  rebellion.  Had 
the  pope  and  priests  been  opposed  to  it  a  Catholic  rebel 
would  scarcely  have  been  known  ;  and  had  not  the 
Catholics  North  and  South  been  in  favor  of  the  rebel- 
lion, it  could  not  have  taken  place.  That  singular  and 
unnecessary  intestine  collision,  in  which  the  South 
gained  nothing  but  disgrace,  the  North  nothing  but 
depopulation  and  empoverishment,  and  at  the  mystery 
of  which  leading  secessionists  were  so  much  puzzled 
that  they  declared  it  to  be  the  effects  of   a  general 


-   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES.  361 

lunacy,  was  nevertheless  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
profound  and  masterly  policy  of  the  Ptoman  See,  which 
comprehends  in  its  toils  the  events  of  ages,  and  from 
the  first  projection  of  a,  ]jlot  to  its  final  consummation, 
shapes  every  intervening  circumstance  to  the  fulfilment 
of  its  grand  design.  The  Catholics  North  supported, 
the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  the  Catholics  South  the 
cause  of  the  rebellion  with  votes,  money  and  men ;  the 
rebellion,  therefore,  was  not  contrary  to  the  teachings 
of  the  church.  The  depopulation  of  the  native  element 
of  the  North,  the  influx  of  foreign  Catholics,  the  crea- 
tion of  an  oppressive  national  debt,  the  demoralization 
consequent  on  civil  war,  the  engenderment  of  civil  an- 
tipathies, and  the  supplanting  of  colored  servants  by 
white  Catholic  servants,  were  all  known  prospective  re- 
sults of  the  rebellion ;  were  all  in  harmony  with  the 
papal  designs ;  and  to  realize  which  the  Catholics  of  the 
North,  and  the  Catholics  of  the  South  were  stimulated 
by  their  priests  to  meet  each  in  deadly  conflict. 

But  dismemberment  could  not  possibly  have  been  in- 
tended by  the  secret  projectors  of  the  rebellion.  It 
was  an  impracticable  idea.  The  geography  of  the  coun- 
try interposed  to  its  success  an  insurmountable  obstacle. 
It  was  also  inconsistent  with  the  papal  designs.  But 
monarchy  was  not  an  impracticable  idea.  It  encoun- 
tered no  difficulty  in  the  country's  geography.  It  was 
in  harmony  with  the  policy  of  the  Roman  See.  The 
Catholic  blood  which  was  poured  out  in  such  torrents 
in  the  civil  conflicts  was  not  intended  to  eff'ect  dis- 
memberment, but  to  create  the  elements  conducive  to 
the  establishment  of  a  monarchial  government.  Shortly 
after  the  close  of  the  rebellion  this  soil,  hallowed  bvthe 
31 


362  1>APAL   rOLlTlCAL  1NTEIGUE3 

blood,  and  consecrated  by  tbe  sepulture  of  million!?  of 
freemen;  Catholic  as  well  as  non-Catholic^  was  attempted 
to  be  desecrated  by  tho  establishment  of  presses  for 
openly  advocating  that  execrable  treason  ;  and  it  has 
been  asserted  by  the  leaders  of  the  late  rebellion,  that 
the  civil  war  is  not  at  an  end  ;  but  that  it  will  again 
break  out,  and  then  the  battle  field  will  not  be  the 
South,  but  every  State,  city  and  village  in  the  Union. 
Perhaps  they  mean  to  intimate  that  it  will  be  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  massacre  on  St.  Bartholomew's  eve. 

To  those  who  fondly  dream  that  the  republic  of 
America  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  pretensions  of 
the  Pope  of  Rome,  and  his  loyal  subjects,  we  submit 
the  following  extracts : 

"  Heresy  (Protestantism)  and  Infidelity  have  not, 
and  never  had,  and  never  can  have  any  right,  being,  as 
they  undoubtedly  are,  contrary  to  the  law  of  God." — 
Bronson's  Mev.,  Jan.^  1852. 

*'  Heresy  (Protestantism)  and  unbelief  are  crimes, 
and  in  Christian  countries,  as  in  Italy  and  Spain  for  in- 
stance, where  the  Catholic  religion  is  the  essential  law 
of  the  land,  they  are  punished  as  other  crimes." — Bishop 
Kendrick. 

*'  Protestantism  of  every  form  has  notj  and  never  can 
have  any  right,  where  Catholicism  is  triumphant ;  and 
therefore  we  lose  all  the  breath  we  expend  in  declaim- 
ing against  bigotry  and  intolerance,  and  in  favor  of  re- 
ligious liberty,  or  the  right  of  any  one  to  bo  of  any 
religion,  or  of  no  religion,  as  best  pleases  him." — 
Catholic  liev.,  Jan.,  1852. 

"  Eeligious  liberty  is  merely  endured  until  the  oppo- 
site can  be  carried  into  effect  without  peril  to  the 
Catholic  world." — Bishop  O'Connor^  of  Pittsburg. 


IN   THE  UNITED   STATES.  363 

*'  If  the  Catholics  ever  gain,  which  they  surely  will, 
an  immense  numerical  majority,  religious  freedom  in 
this  country  will  be  at  an  end." — Archbishop  of  8L 
Louis. 

"  Catholicity  will  one  day  rule  America,  and  religious 
freedom  will  be  at  an  end." — Buhop  of  /St.  Louis. 

*'  The  Catholic  church  numbers  one-third  of  the 
American  population  ;  and  if  its  membership  shall  in- 
crease for  the  next  thirty  years  as  it  has  for  the  thirty 
years  past,  in  1900  Rome  will  have  a  majority,  and  be 
bound  to  take  the  country  and  keep  it." — Hecker. 

'*  Should  the  said  church  go  on  increasing  _  for  the 
next  twenty  years,  the  papists  will  be  in  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  IJnited  States." — Williayn  Hogan. 

*'  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  in  his  second  book,  chapter  3, 
page  58,  says:  'Heretics  (non-Catholics)  may  justly  be 
killed.'  But  you  will  answer,  there  is  no  danger  of 
this.  They  can  never  acquire  the  povver  in  this  coun- 
try to  sanction  that  doctrine.  How  sadly  mistaken 
are  you  !  How  lamentably  unacquainted  with  the  se- 
cret springs  or  machinery  of  popery." — William  Hogan, 

Quoting  from  an  author  Hogan  writes : 

*'  America  is  the  promised  land  of  the  Jesuists.  To 
obtain  the  ascendency  they  have  no  need  of  Swiss 
guards,  or  the  assistance  of  the  holy  alliance,  but  a  ma- 
jority of  votes,  which  can  easily  be  obtained  by  the 
importation  of  Catholic  voters  from  Ireland,  Austria, 
and  Bavaria.  ...  I  am  not  a  politician,  but  knowing 
the  active  spirit  of  Jesuitism,  and  the  indifference  of 
the  generality  of  Protestants,  I  have  no  doubt  that  in 
ten  )  ears  the  Jesuists  will  have  a  mighty  influence 
over  the  ballot,  box,  and  in  twenty  will  direct  it  accord- 
ing to  pleasure.  Now  they  fawn,  in  ten  years  they  will 
menace,  in  twenty  command." — Synopsis,  p.  106. 


364  PAPAL   POLITICAL     NTEIGUES 

In  the  above  quoted  authorities  we  have  a  unanimous 
declaration  of  Catholic  bishops,  priests  and  ^periodicals," 
that  the  Catholic  church  is  radically  opposed  to  reli- 
gious liberty  ;  that  she  regards  Protestants  and  Infidels 
as  criminals  ;  that  whenever  she  obtains  the  political 
power  she  punishes  them  as  such  ;  and  that  the  success 
of  her  policy  and  measures  in  this  country  has  been 
sufficient  to  justify  her  expectation,  that  in  1900  she 
will  be  enabled  to  accomplish  all  her  bloody  and  trea- 
sonable designs.  That  these  hopes  are  not  altogether 
chimerical,  we  have  also  the  reluctant  and  alarming 
concessions  of  her  opponents.  Those  who  abuse  liberty 
should  be  deprived  of  its  benefits  ;  and  those  abuse  it 
most  who  take  advantage  of  its  generous  indulgence  to 
plot  for  its  destruction.  The  rights  of  toleration  sub- 
sist only  by  mutual  consent ;  their  obligations  are  re- 
ciprocal ;  and  whenever  the  silent  compact  is  violated 
by  one  party,  the  other  is  exonerated  from  its  obliga- 
tions. No  man  possesses  a  right  w^hich  is  not  possessed 
by  another ;  nor  has  he  any  authority  for  claiming  for 
himself  that  which  he  does  not  concede  to  others. 
When,  therefore,  the  Catholic  priests  proclaim  that 
Protestantism  in  any  form  has  no  right  where  Cathol- 
icism is  triumphant,  they  surrender  their  rights  where 
Protestantism  in  any  form  is  triumphant.  When  they 
assert  heresy  and  unbelief  are  crimes,  and  where  the 
Catholic  religion  is  the  essential  law  of  the  land,  are 
punished  as  crimes,  they  authorize  heretics  and  unbe- 
lievers to  consider  Catholicism  a  crime,  and  where  her- 
esy and  unbelief  are  the  essential  law  of  the  land,  to 
punish  Catholics  as  criminals.  When  they  say  that 
Catholicity  will  one  day  rule  America,  and  then  religious 


-  -IN   THE   UNITED   STATES.  365 

liberty  will  be  at  an  end,  they  appeal  to  the  instincts  of 
self-preservation,  and  justify  freemen  in  adopting  any 
measure  that  is  necessary  to  render  their  avowed  trea- 
son and  destructive  designs  abortive.  They  assail  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  Constitution,  and  forfeit 
all  right  to  its  protection.  Neither  Protestants  nor  In- 
fidels may  bo  disposed  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privi- 
leges of  these  concessions,  while  forbearance  is  a  virtue ; 
but  they  may  be  provoked  to  consider  the  further  tol- 
erance of  the  Jesuists  in  this  country  as  inconsistent 
with  the  peace  and  stability  of  the  republic. 

As  the  treasonable  designs  of  the  Catholic  priests  are 
undeniable,  it  is  important  to  understand  by  what 
means  they  expect  to  accomplish  their  infamous  pur- 
poses. The  subjoined  letter  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond, 
formerly  Governor-General  of  Canada,  will  explain 
their  policy,  their  system  of  measures,  and  the  co-opera- 
tion which  they  are  to  receive  from  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe.  "  It  (the  American  republic)  uill  he  destroyed^'' 
says  he,  "  it  ought  not,  and  will  not  he  permitted  to  exist. 
The  curse  of  the  French  revolution,  and  subsequent 
wars  and  commotions  of  Europe,  are  to  be  attributed 
to  its  example,  and  so  long  as  it  exists  no  prince  will  be 
safe  on  his  throne,  and  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  are 
aware  of  it,  and  they  arc  determined  on  its  destruction, 
and  they  have  come  to  an  understanding  on  the  S2ihject, 
and  have  decided  on  the  means  to  accomplish  it;  and 
they  will  eventually  succeed,  by  subversion  rather  than 
by  conquest.  All  the  low  and  surplus  population  of 
the  different  nations  of  Europe  will  be  carried  into  that 
country.  It  is,  and  will  be,  the  receptacle  of  the  bad 
and  disaffected  population  of  Europe,  when  they  are 
31* 


366  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

not  wanted  for  soldiers  or  to  supply  navies ;  and  the 
governments  of  Europe  will  favor  such  a  cause.  This 
will  create  a  surplus  majority  of  low  population,  who  are 
so  very  easily  excited,  and  they  will  bring  with  them  their 
principles,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  adhere  to  their 
ancient  and  former  governments,  laws,  manners,  cus- 
toms and  religion,  and  will  transmit  them  to  their  pos- 
terity, and  in  many  cases  propagate  them  among  the 
natives.  These  men  will  become  citizens,  and  by  the 
constitution  and  kws  be  invested  with  the  right  of 
suffrage.  Hence  discord,  dissension,  anarchy  and  civil 
war  will  ensue,  and  some  popular  individual  will  assume 
the  government,  restore  order,  and  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe,  the  immigrants,  and  many  of  the  natives  will 
sustain  him.  The  church  of  Rome  has  a  design  on  this 
country,  audit  will  in  time  he  the  established  religion,  and 
it  will  aid  in  the  destruction  of  the  republic.  I  have 
conversed  with  many  sovereigns  and  princes  of  Europe, 
and  they  have  unanimously  expressed  their  opinion 
relative  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
their  determination  to  subvert  it."  According  to  this 
admonitory  letter  an  alliance  has  been  formed  by  the 
European  powers  and  the  Pope  of  Eome,  for  the  sub- 
version of  the  American  republic,  the  substitution  of  a 
manarchy  in  its  place,  and  the  establishment  of  Cathol- 
icism as  the  national  religion.  Had  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond been  silent,  still  no  well  informed  person  could 
doubt  that  all  the  European  sovereigns,  whether  Pro- 
testant or  Catholic,  would  act  uj^on  the  avowed  prin- 
ciple of  the  Holy  Alliance  in  their  conduct  with  regard 
to  North  America.  Would  England  consent,  it  may  be 
asked,   to  ally  herself  with  the  papal   despot?     Why 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  367 

not  ?     Slie  has  done  so  before  ;  in  the  recent  troubles  of 
the   Roman   See  she  sent  her  war  vessels  to  protect  the 
pope  ;  and  she  assented  to  the  principles  of  the  Holy 
Alliance,  which  was  for  the  extinguishment  of  all  free- 
dom in  Europe.     The  good  sense  of  the  English  people 
would  never  have  recognized  a  policy  which  inevitably 
involved  their  own  destruction  ;  but  they  are  a  cypher 
in  the  great  account  of  the  short-sighted  government. 
That   England    heartily    co-operates    with    the    papal 
priests  in  their  infamous  work,  may  be  learned  from  the 
subjoined  extract  of  the  Dublin  Evenincf  Mail,  elicited 
by  the  news  from   America  that  certain  teachers  had 
been  dismissed  from  a  school  of  the  West  on  account  of 
their  foreign  birth,  &c. :  "  The  foreign  birth  and  Roman 
Catholic  proclivities   of   the  teachers  thus  dismissed," 
says  he,  "  are  sufficient  evidence  that  they  have  been 
imported  into  the  United  States  by  the  Church  of  Rome, 
with  a  view  to  pervert  the  secular  education  of  the 
country  to  the  purposes  of  proselytism.     They  are,  in 
fact,  emissaries  of  the  College  de  Propaganda  Fide,  and 
have  been  trained  and  qualified,  no  doubt,  by  its  edu- 
cation, to  carry  out  abroad  the  principles  it  has  been  so 
successful  in  disseminating  here  in  Dublin.     The  pope 
has  not  a  more  efficient  free-handed  institution  at  his  hach 
than   the  imperial  parliament   of  the   united  Icingdom, 
which  spares  no  expense  to  furnish  his  holiness  with 
zealous  and  well  informed  agents  for  the  spreading  of 
his  dominion  over  the  face  of  the  globe.     Does  he  re- 
quire priests  to  publish  and    extend  it  wherever  the 
English  language  is  spoken,  the  halls  and  dormitories 
of  Maynooth  are  enlarged,  and  their  larder  abundantly 
replenished  to  keep  a  constant  supply  of  young  ecclesi- 


368  PAPAL    POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

astics  for  his  service.  Do  these  in  turn  send  home  a 
requisition  for  more  teachers  to  assist  them  in  their 
work,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  adds  some  ten 
thousand 'pounds  for  his  yearlg  estimate  for  national  edu- 
cation in  Ireland,  and  continued  re-enforcements  of 
propagandists  are  thus  maintained,  in  readiness  to  move 
in  obedience  to  the  call,  whenever  Rome  mav  need  their 
service." 

According  to  the  Duke  of  Pdchmond's  letter,  one  of 
the  means  by  which  the  tyrant  of  Rome  and  his  col- 
leagues have  adopted  for  accomplishing  the  downfall  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  is  that  of  foreign 
immigration.  Let  us  examine  the  operation  of  this 
device.  The  editor  of  the  Louisville  Journal,  in  dis- 
cussing the  question  of  foreign  immigration,  makes  the 
following  statement:  "  In  1850  our  native  white  popu- 
lation was  about  17,300,000.  In  the  same  year  our 
foreign  population  was  about  2,300,000.  In  1852  the 
immigration  was  about  398,170.  At  that  rate  it  would 
take  only  about  six  years  to  double  the  foreign  popula- 
tion here  in  1850.  This  is  about  five  times  our  popula- 
tion's increase,  which  is  in  a  ratio  of  three  or  four  per 
cent,  per  annum,  while  the  increase  of  foreigners  is  from 
fourteen  to  sixteen  per  cent,  on  the  census  of  1830, 
1840,  and  1850. 

"  In  1852  our  presidential  vote  was  about  3,300,000. 
In  1848  it  was  about  2,880,000.  In  1852  our  foreign 
arrivals,  as  shown,  were  about  400,000,  and  240,000  of 
these  were  males,  thus  showing  that  in  one  year,  the 
arrivals  of  foreign  males  into  this  country,  was  nearly  as 
great  as  the  increase  of  our  whole  voting  population 
during  four  years." 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES.  369 

The   foreign   arrivals   by   sea   alone   were  — 


In  1850 

. 

315,333 

*'    1851 

. 

403,828 

"    1852 

•         •         >         • 

398,470 

"    1853 

•         > 

400,777 

From  Canada 

and  Mexico  during  the  same 

period  about 

700,408 

2,118,408 

It  appears  from  the  census  of  1850  that  the  total  ag- 
gregate of  foreign  population  of  the  United  States  in 
1849  was  2,210,829.  If  the  tide  of  immigration  has 
added  but  two  millions  to  the  number  of  the  foreign 
population  every  four  years  since  1849,  it  must  have 
amounted,  in  1869,  to  7,210,829. 

All  the  immigrants  are  not,  however,  Catholics.  Some 
are  Protestants,  some  Infidels,  and  some  Radical  Repub- 
licans. The  Turners,  the  Free  Germans,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Revolutionary  League  are  all  firm  friends  of 
free  governments.  The  proportion  of  Catholics  among 
the  immigrants,  at  a  fair  computation,  is  presumed  to  be 
about  three-fourths  of  the  entire  number.  They  must, 
therefore,  add  to  the  Catholic  numerical  strength  about 
3,750,000  at  every  decade 

Besides  the  numerical  augmentation  of  the  Catholic 
church  through  the  medium  of  foreign  immigration, 
there  are  other  appliances  acting  powerfully  in  its  favor. 
"  It  is  not  long,"  says  "William  Hogan,  "  since  I  saw  a 
letter  from  the  Catholic  bishop  Kendrick,  of  the  diocese 
of  Massachusetts,  in  which  he  informs  the  authorities 
of  Rome  that  he  is  making  converts  of  some  of  the  first 


370  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

families  in  the  diocese." — Synopsis,  p.  169.  "I  Lave 
often  conversed,"  says  he,  "with  American  Protestants 
on  this  subject,  and  regret  finding  many  of  them — espe- 
cially those  of  the  Unitarian  creed — are  strong  advo- 
cates of  popery,  and  in  favor  of  its  introduction  among 
the  people."  John  L.  Chapman,  a  Methodist  clergy- 
man, in  a  work  written  before  the  Southern  outbreak, 
says  in  substance,  according  to  my  recollection,  that  a 
Methodist  j^reacher  cannot  now  address  his  congrega- 
tion upon  the  subject  of  Catholicism  with  the  same 
freedom  he  could  formerly ;  that  those  who  imagine  a 
Methodist  preacher  can  now  utter  in  the  pulpit,  or  at  a 
tract  or  bible  meeting,  the  sentiments  of  John  Wesley 
respecting  popery,  are  entirely  mistaken  ;  and  that 
those  who  suppose  that  an  editor  of  a  Methodist  peri- 
odical can  now  assail  the  errors  of  Catholicism  without 
the  loss  of  subscribers,  are  laboring  under  a  great  delu- 
ions.  While  the  pulpits,  revivals,  and  evangelical  en- 
terprises are  making  no  converts  of  any  account  among 
Catholics,  the  confirmation  services  of  the  Catholic 
bishops  show  the  great  number  of  adult  non-Catholics 
which  they  are  adding  to  their  church.  The  number 
of  children  kidnapped,  and  the  extraordinary  number 
confirmed  by  Catholic  bishops,  might  suggest  a  suspi- 
cion that  the  church  has  not  abandoned  its  historic 
mode  of  adding  to  its  members.  Every  non-Catholic 
child  educated  in  a  Catholic  school  becomes  a  Catholic, 
or  strongly  biassed  in  favor  of  that  church.  We  hear  of 
Protestant  priests,  and  sometimes  of  Protestant  bishops, 
and  of  whole  bodies  of  theological  students  becoming 
Koman  Catholics. 

It  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  the  annual  increase  of 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES. 


371 


the  Catholic  population  far  outstrips  that  of  the  non- 
Catholic  population  ;  and  that  at  some  future  period  its 
numerical  strength  will  he  capable  of  deciding  in  favor 
of  the  church  every  election  that  takes  place.     When 
that  unfortunate  hour  arrives  every  policeman,  council- 
man, mayor,  judge,    governor,  delegate,    congressman, 
senator,  president,  civil  official,  army  or  naval  officer 
will  be  a  Catholic.     Then   the   non-Catholics   wiiV  be 
powerless,  and  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  believe  they 
have  no  rights.     Then,  by  the  secret  operation  of  the 
papal  machinery,  one  faction  will  be  inflamed  against 
another,  and  one  section  of  the  land  against  another. 
Then  rapine,  violence,  assassination,  sedition,  massacre — 
everything  that  can  render  life  and  property  insecure — 
will  distract  every  state,  city  and  village  in  the  Union. 
Then,  amid  the  anarchy  and  confusion  thus  produced, 
some  Catholic  tyrant  will  arise,  and — the  civil  disorders 
subsiding  at  the  bidding   of  the   pope — will   be   pro- 
claimed dictator.     Supported  by  the  Catholic  and  Pro- 
testant kings  of  Europe,  he  will  abolish  the  republic, 
and  establish  in  its  place  a  Catholic  monarchial  gov- 
ernment.     Then,    according    to    Bronson,   heresy    and 
Infidelity  will  be  declared  to  have  no  rights.     Then, 
according  to  Archbishop  Kendrick,  Protestantism  will 
be  declared  to  be  a  crime,  and  punished  as  such.     Then, 
according  to   the  archbishop  of  St.  Louis,  religious  lib- 
erty will  no  longer  be   endured.     Then,  according  to 
Ilecker,  the  Catholic  church  will  be  bound  to  take  the 
country,  and  keep  it.     Then  inquisitions  will  bo  intro- 
duced, and  stakes  erected.     Then  the  darkness  of  the 
middle  ages  will  settle  over  the  land.     Then  the  school- 
houses,  the  colleges,  the  asylums,  and  the  churches  built 


oT2  PAPAL    POLITICAL    INTRIGUES 

with  Protectant  funds  vrill  Le  applied  to  Catholic  pur- 
poses. Then  the  fortunes  which  non-Catholics  have 
amassed  will  be  confiscated.  Then  the  territorial  acqui- 
sitions of  the  Government,  all  its  resources,  all  the  ad- 
vantages it  has  acquired  by  arms  and  treaties,  its  navy 
and  its  army,  will  become  the  property  of  the  papal 
monarchy,  and  applied  to  its  defence  and  extension. 
Then  it  will  be  the  business  of  Americans,  not  to  create 
magistrates,  but  to  obey  despots  ;  not  to  share  in  the 
sovereignty  of  the  government,  but  to  toil  in  slavery  to 
support  an  execrable  despotism.  Then  liberty  of  speech 
and  freedom  of  the  press  will  be  no  more.  Then  the 
ecclesiastical  dungeons,  which  the  supineness  of  Amer- 
icans have  allowed  Catholicism  to  erect  among  them,  will 
be  the  homes  and  graves  of  freemen.  Then  will  arise  a 
government  constructed  of  schemes  for  public  plunder  ; 
where  an  aristocracy  are  privileged  robbers ;  v/here 
moral  worth  and  dignity  are  the  helpless  victims  of 
power  and  injustice;  where  laws  are  made  for  subjects, 
not  for  rulers ;  and  where  the  people  are  inherited  by 
royal  heirs,  like  so  much  land  and  cattle.  Then  will 
the  monarchial  demon,  the  God  of  slaves  and  aristocrats, 
seated  on  the  people's  throne,  with  his  feet  on  the 
people's  neck,  quaff  blood  like  water ;  and  eye  with 
scornful  indifference  the  squalid  millions  whom  he  has 
doomed  by  an  enormous  taxation  to  huddle  in  hovels, 
without  light  or  air,  with  cloathing  scarcely  enough  to 
hide  their  nakedness,  with  food  scarcely  enough  to  sus- 
tain life,  or  fire  scarcely  enough  to  keep  them  from 
freezing. 

When  the  pope  shall  have  succeeded  in  his  attempts 
to  establish  such  a  monarchy  over  the  American  people, 


IN    THE   UNITED   STATES.  373 

lie  will  next  proceed  to  enlarge  its  dominions  by  the 
annexation  of  Canada,  Mexico,  all^  South  America,  and 
all  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  islands.  AVith  such  a  do- 
minion, such  resources,  such  an  army  and  navy,  he  will 
be  master  of  the  land  and  the  ocean.  He  will  then 
proceed  to  plunder  and  discrown  the  very  kings  that 
had  assisted  him  in  erecting  his  colossal  power.  He 
will  then  enforce,  by  the  thunders  of  American  moni- 
tors and  war  steamers,  his  claim  to  the  crowns  of  Eng- 
land and  Russia;  his  claim  to  be  the  disposer  of  all 
crowns ;  his  claim  to  be  the  only  monarch  that  ought 
to  wear  the  token  of  royalty  ;  in  fine,  his  claim  to  the 
supreme  temporal  and  spiritual  monarchy  of  the  world. 
Then  England  will  awake,  but  it  will  be  in  the  vengeful 
folds  of  a  serpent  crushing  out  her  life.  Then  the  Euro- 
pean despots  will  awake,  but  it  will  be  amid  the  crumb- 
ling of  their  thrones.  Then  the  papal  allies  will  awake, 
but  it  will  be  to  find  their  limbs  fettered,  and  the  foot 
of  the  sacerdotal  monarch  placed  in  malignant  triumph 
upon  their  necks.  Then  the  w'orld  will  awake,  but  it 
will  be  to  find  that  it  has  sufi'ered  the  extinction  of  the 
last  star  of  liberty,  and  involved  itself  in  a  night  of 
despotism  without  the  hope  of  a  morn. 

But  the  spirit  of  freedom  is  immortal ;  its  conflict 
with  despotism  will  be  eternal.  Bolts,  dungeons, 
shackles  cannot  confine  it;  racks,  flames  and  gibbets 
cannot  extinguish  it.  To  annihilate  it,  the  most  formid- 
able efl"orts  of  bigotry,  the  most  ingenious  arts  of  states- 
men, the  combined  power  of  church  and  state,  have 
been  applied  in  vain.  Though  the  blood  of  freedom's 
sons  have  streamed  in  torrents,  and  the  smoke  of  their 
stakes  have  darkened  the  face  of  heaven,  yet  their 
32 


374  PAPAL   POLITICAL    INTPIGUES 

spirit  has  still  walked  abroad  over  the  world.  So  it  has 
been  in  the  past ;  so  Jt  will  be  in  the  future.  If  the 
Catholic  demon  should  massacre  all  the  freemen  in  one 
age,  they  will  rise  up  more  powerful  in  the  next;  and 
successively  as  time  rolls  on,  shake  with  their  energy  the 
accursed  throne.  Hence  civil  war  will  never  cease, 
fields  will  eternally  reek  with  gore,  burning  cathedrals 
and  convents  will  illuminate  the  night,  till  the  v/orld, 
instructed  by  its  past  errors,  will  unite  in  a  natural 
union  for  the  extinguishment  of  Catholicism. 

We  have  now  alluded  to  the  dangers  which  begin  to 
blacken  our  political  firmament.  Can  the  storm  be 
averted?  "We  believe  it  can.  A  union  of  the  Protest- 
ants, Jews,  Spiritualists,  Free  Eeligionists,  Infidels, 
Atheists,  Turners,  Free  Germans,  and  of  all  non-Catho- 
lics, without  regard  to  creed,  race  or  color,  on  a  basis  of 
universal  civil  and  religious  liberty,  with  a,  judicious 
policy,  and  a  corresponding  system  of  measures,  will 
prove  adequate  to  the  emergency.  Such  an  organization, 
if  sufiiciently  liberally  constituted,  might  command  the 
support  of  Gallic  and  Fenian  Catholics.  The  life,  lib- 
erty and  welfare  of  all  non-Catholics,  if  not,  indeed,  of 
the  Fenians  and  Galileans  themselves,  are  in  equal  dan- 
ger, and  why  should  they  not  organize  for  mutual 
safety?  Does  prejudice  forbid  it?  Millions  of  lives 
must  be  sacrificed  if  a  union  be  not  efi'ected.  "Who 
would,  then,  hesitate  io  sacrifice  a  prejudice  that  it  may 
be  effected  ?  A  tyrant  may  demand  concessions  with- 
out rendering  an  equivalent,  but  freemen  can  not. 
Can  Americans  sleep  in  peace,  while  the  clang  of  the 
hammers  that  are  forging  their  chains  are  sounding  in 
their  ears,  and  the  pillars  which  support  their  govern- 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES. 


S75 


ment  are  tottering  over  their  heads  ?  It  seems  impos- 
sible. Their  obligations  to  their  country,  to  posterity, 
to  the  world,  demand  union.  Union  or  slavery  ;  union 
or  confiscation  ;  union  or  the  rack,  the  stake,  the  gibbet. 
One  or  the  other  is  inevitable.  Which  do  you  now 
chose?  A  few  more  years  hence  you  will  have  no 
choice. 

Every  citizen  knows  that  under  the  present  form  of 
government  his  merits  have  rewards,  and  his  industry 
has    encouragements    enjoyed   by    no   people    m    any 
country,  or  under  any  other  form  of  government.     The 
poorest  and  the  richest  are  here  accorded  equal  chances, 
equal    privileges;    and    an    equal    voice    in    selecting 
legislators,  judges  and  rulers.     They  are    equally  un- 
trammelled by  legal  impediments  in  seeking  the  highest 
positions   in  the   government.     Each  citizen  is  an  inte- 
gral  part  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation  ;  he  partici- 
pates in  its  management,  and  shares  its  greatness  and 
glory.     It  is  a  consolation  enjoyed  only  by  an  Ameri- 
can, that  if  fame   nor  fortune  should  gratify  his  ambi- 
■  tion,   he    can   still  bequeath   to  his  children  a  richer 
inheritance   than   that  of   either  fame   or  fortune,   the 
inheritance    of   a   free    government.      Judging   of   the 
future  by  the  past,  it  is  his  privilege  to  believe  that  the 
republic  will  continue  to  grow  in  power  and  greatness 
with  each  succeeding  age,  until  the  light  of  her  glory 
shall  fill  the  earth  ;  until   despots  shall  tremble  before 
the  majesty  of  the  people  ;  until  the  clank  of  slavery, 
and  the  groan  of  the  oppressed  shall  no  more  be  heard; 
and  until  the   united  world  shall  rise  to  the  majesty 
and    greatness   of   equal    privileges,    equal   rights   and 
equal  laws. 


376  PAPAL   POLITICAL   INTRIGUES 

Such  are  the  blessings  guaranteed,  and  the  expecta- 
tions warranted  by  the  continuance  of  the  republic  ;  but 
monarchy,  like  a  deadly  blast,  annihilates  them  all. 
With  the  liberty,  it  lays  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the 
nation  in  the  grave.  Intolerance  will  then  re-establish 
its  racks  and  torture.  Industry  will  then  be  oppressed, 
and  enterprise  annihilated.  This  land,  which  has  so 
long  resounded  with  the  song  of  liberty,  will  then  re- 
verberate with  the  clanking  irons  of  servitude.  This 
nation,  which  is  now  the  wonder  and  glory  of  the  earth  ; 
which  is  so  powerful  and  prosperous ;  this  nation  will 
be  no  more.  Her  life  and  splendor  will  have  departed 
with  her  freedom.  History  may  record  her  eventful 
story  ;  her  sons  may  clank  in  chains  around  her  tomb ; 
future  freemen  may  curse  the  degenerate  sons  who 
wanted  the  valor  or  unanimity  to  transmit  to  their  pos- 
terity the  government  which  they  inherited  from  their 
ancestors  ;  but  these  will  not  call  her  to  life  and  glory 
again.  Like  a  wave  she  will  have  rolled  away  ;  like  a 
dream,  she  will  have  departed ;  like  a  thunder  peal, 
she  will  have  muttered  into  eternal  silence.  Like 
these  she  had  but  one  existence,  and  that  will  then 
have  ended. 


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